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Kwame Kilpatrick (Photo: Twitter)
Ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick doesn't deserve sympathy or special treatment for the way he conducted himself in office.
But he does deserve justice, just like every other American. Having covered the federal criminal justice system for decades, I feel comfortable saying his 28-year-sentence is excessive and unjust.
U.S. District Judge Nancy G. Edmunds, who sentenced Kilpatrick in 2013 to 28 years, just missed another opportunity to correct and reduce her out-of-whack sentence. Kilpatrick filed a motion to have his sentence set aside based on a number of issues. He also questioned the sentencing guidelines that led to his harsh sentence.
I won't argue over the judge's 42-page decision filed Tuesday that dismisses Kilpatrick's claim that he got an unfair trial based on a number of factors. And I won't even dispute the correctness of the sentencing guidelines.
But Edmunds knows -- and as we plainly saw in the Paul Manafort sentencing -- judges have the discretion, based upon reason, to depart upward or downward from the sentencing guidelines -- which are just that -- guidelines that aren't binding. Manfort's crimes were certainly serious.
She needs to correct this.
Why should we care if Kilpatrick rots in prison for well over two decades?
It's not about Kilpatrick. It's far bigger. It's about justice.
And the longer his ridiculous sentence stands -- and the longer the judge refuses to ackowledge the mistake -- the longer the case stands as example of an unjust criminal justice system.
Elected officials should be held to a high standard. Kilpatrick used the office to personally benefit himself and his family.
But you can't say 12 or 15 years isn't sufficient punishment for public corruption. Anyone who doesn't think that's enough, I urge them to spend a week or month or a year in prison.
Kilpatrick isn't a symapthetic figure.But he is a symbol of what can go wrong in our system when judges fail to use good judgment.
