Some say that politics is a dangerous business. Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline is sporting the cast to prove it.

Cicilline was attending a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee on a boat in Sag Harbor, N.Y., on Saturday, hobnobbing with party bigwigs including Chairman Howard Dean.

Leaving the boat on a steep gangway, Cicilline stumbled and tore a ligament in his right ankle, according to his spokeswoman, Karen Southern.

Cicilline’s right foot and lower leg are encased in a walking cast, and it’s not clear how long he’ll have to wear it. He hasn’t used crutches, despite the injury, and Southern said she’s surprised by how quickly he’s been getting around.

“You know, it’s amazing, his injury hasn’t slowed him down one bit,” she said.

Summer school needed?

The report cards are in.

And the grades are not good, at least from the perspective of the government watchdog group Common Cause, which issued its eighth-annual legislative scorecard last week.

The scores, which rate elected officials based on a handful of key votes over 2007 and 2008, are the worst, on average, since the organization began ranking Rhode Island lawmakers.

The average senator scored a D, or 64 percent, while the average representative failed with a 56.

“Overall the legislative scores are very disappointing,” Common Cause’s executive director, Christine Lopes, said in a statement. “Although Common Cause testified on a variety of bills over the two-year session, only a few actually made it to the House and Senate floor. ... Unfortunately, some of the bills that did make it to the floor thwarted the voters’ will on constitutional reforms that Common Cause strongly supports ...”

Common Cause based its rankings on votes in four categories: judicial reform, campaigns and elections, media and open government, and separation of powers and judicial oversight.

The report that accompanied each legislator’s scores notes that the Assembly passed the most significant open-records bill in a decade. But in other areas, it largely failed to adopt good government policies, as outlined by Common Cause.

For example, a bill passed by the Senate that would have reconfigured the Coastal Resources Management Council to comply with separation of powers died in the House. And in 2007, the Assembly allowed the governor to select judges from “look back” lists that Common Cause says defies a 1994 constitutional amendment establishing merit selection of judicial nominees.

How did key lawmakers score?

Senate President Joseph A. Montalbano sided with Common Cause 67 percent of the time, based on a weighted average of 16 votes (the score includes “bonus points” awarded to each lawmaker acknowledging the difficulty of closing “one of the most severe budget crises in state history.”)

Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Paiva-Weed scored 64 percent, while Senate Finance Committee Chairman Stephen D. Alves finished worst among the leadership, with 54.

On the House side, Common Cause gave Speaker William J. Murphy 37 percent. Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox did slightly better with 46 percent, the same score as Finance Committee Chairman Steven M. Costantino.

Political Scene noticed that the scores differed among party affiliation.

On the Republican side, Senate Minority Leader Dennis L. Algiere earned 75 percent, while House Minority Leader Robert A. Watson received 72.

For the full rankings and a complete explanation of the votes, go to www.commoncause.org

Roy leaving federal defenders office

Edward C. Roy Jr., the supervising assistant federal defender in Rhode Island since 2003, will step down in October and return to the private practice of law.

Roy, 50, of Coventry, said he is making the move, effective Oct. 17, for “personal reasons.” He said he plans to share office space in Wickford with James E. O’Neil, who was Rhode Island’s attorney general from 1987 to 1993.

Roy was one of the lawyers who opened the federal defenders office in Rhode Island. Before then, the court appointed lawyers to represent indigent defendants. “I’m proud of opening the office and helping a lot of people during the 5½ years I was here,” he said.

When asked which single case stood out during his tenure, Roy cited United States v. Pho, which placed Rhode Island at the center of a national debate about sentencing guidelines that treated 1 gram of crack as the equivalent of 100 grams of powder cocaine.

Circuit Judge Bruce M. Selya “mentioned how Rhode Island was ground zero in the debate on the disparity,” Roy said. “And it was a case that helped project the magnitude of the problem throughout the country.”

In sentencing Sambath Pho and another crack offender, in the summer of 2005, then-Chief U.S. District Judge Ernest C. Torres had said he favored a 20-to-1 crack-to-powder ratio recommended by the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

But in a 2006 decision, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Torres had erred by categorically rejecting the 100-to-1 ratio. Selya, the 1st Circuit’s only Rhode Islander, wrote the decision, saying, “While we share the district court’s concern about the fairness of maintaining the across-the-board sentencing gap associated with the 100-to-1 crack-to-powder ratio, the proper place to assuage that concern is in the halls of Congress, not in federal courtrooms.”

Besides Roy, the federal defenders office in Rhode Island includes Kevin J. Fitzgerald and Mary S. McElroy. Roy said he does not know who will replace him.

Mollis tries to get younger people to vote

Secretary of state spokesman Chris Barnett gets last week’s cheesy headline award for a news release touting his boss’ participation in a weekend voter registration drive:

“Mollis Will Be Rockin’ and Registerin’ with WBRU in Providence on Sunday”

Political Scene appreciates Barnett’s effort, especially during a slow summer news cycle.

As noted in the headline, Secretary of State A. Ralph Mollis spent part of yesterday afternoon on the city’s new music venue on Allens Avenue, the Providence Piers near Conley’s Wharf. Mollis’ goal, according to Barnett’s release, was to get younger voters — specifically those 18 to 24 — to the polls in the coming elections

The statement cites U.S. Census data that 57 percent of eligible 18- to 24-year-olds were registered to vote on Election Day 2004. Just 47 percent actually voted in that election.

The release did not note that the younger people traditionally vote overwhelmingly for Democrats.

“Young people who register to vote are more likely to become active and informed citizens of this state. Some of these young people will be our leaders of tomorrow. Now is the time to engage them,” Mollis said in the statement.

R.I. flags lowered for R.I. native killed in Iraq

Governor Carcieri ordered Rhode Island state flags lowered to half-staff through today in honor of Rhode Island native Michael Ferschke Jr., a 22-year-old Marine sergeant who was killed in Fallujah, Iraq, during a house-to-house search on Aug. 10.

Flags will remain at half-staff until today.

Ferschke, who enlisted five years ago in the Marine Corps, was serving with the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion at the time of his death.

cneedham@projo.com