Steve Utash
Detroit Free Press columnist Michelle Riley writes what the family of Steve Utash must certainly be thinking:
The defendants in the beating of Utash, 54, got off way too easy.
She writes that the four men and teen accused in the April beating that got attention around the nation, got a total of 7.6 years behind bars.
She writes:
So the bottom line is this: Utash, who was nearly killed by a mob on Detroit’s east side, will spend more time recuperating than the men who beat him will spend in prison.
And that’s a damn shame.
The most troubling words in this entire case — from April until now — came from Wayne County Circuit Court Judge James Callahan when he sentenced 19-year-old Latrez Cummings to six months as part of a youth program that could one day erase his record completely. Callahan almost casually dismissed Cummings’ actions by saying “ We’ve all been 19 years of age,” according to news reports. And he said that Cummings needed a father in his life.
Riley isn't dismissive of the factors that may contribute to a person's wrongdoing, but she writes:
But we cannot excuse crime.
