ALREADY CLASSIC STORY

 

Thursday, July 25, 2019

CINCINNATI JAIL SYSTEM WHO REPRESENTED HER?

Ohio is next door to the Land Of Lincoln, a place, in Lincoln's time, also brimming with white racists who elected him:

A day after former Judge Tracie Hunter's jail sentence was imposed, all three Hamilton County commissioners have condemned the action and said it "makes no sense" and casts doubt on the local justice system. 

Judge Patrick Dinkelacker on Monday ordered Hunter to serve six months in jail, a sentence that was imposed more than four years ago after she was convicted of unlawful interest in a public contract.

"A grave injustice occurred Monday in the Hamilton County Courthouse as the sentence imposed upon former Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Tracie Hunter leaves many questioning fairness of the local justice system," the commissioners said. "Incarcerating Judge Hunter makes no sense given the nature of the offense involved."

The commissioners said the ordeal shows the need for criminal justice reform in the courthouse.

"Our community gains nothing from incarceration given the punishing effects that this matter has had on Judge Hunter’s personal and professional life over the last five years. We, as a community, should seek restorative justice rather than retribution," the commissioners said. 

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley wrote a letter before the hearing, pleading that Hunter not be locked up.

"I appreciate that she has been convicted, but serving prison time seems to me to be disproportionate to her crime," Cranley wrote in the letter dated July 22. "Ms. Hunter has suffered for her conviction. She was removed as a judge and no longer has her law license. It doesn't appear to me that she poses any risks to others... she has been punished enough." 

Cranley is a lawyer who helped found Ohio's Innocence Project.

Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman, who is running for mayor in 2021, also wrote a letter on Hunter's behalf that Dinkelacker described during the sentencing hearing as polite. 

Smitherman asked that Hunter not be given jail time.

"This is an opportunity to look at the circumstances and extend mercy," he wrote.

Former Mayor Charlie Luken posted over the weekend in the Enquirer-administered Greater Cincinnati Politics Facebook Group that Hunter has suffered enough.

"She is no threat to the safety of anyone," he wrote. "As a society we fill our jails and prisons with people who will not benefit in any positive way from incarceration. Nor does society benefit. I respect Judge Dinkelacker and hope he can make his way to this just decision."

• Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld, who is running for mayor in 2021, though he has not formally announced, tweeted: "As I've said before, Judge Hunter does not belong in jail - and sending her there serves no purpose. What our community needs is healing and reconciliation, not to become further divided." 
• Councilman Greg Landsman tweeted after the sentencing one succinct sentence: "Sending Tracie Hunter to jail is absolutely ridiculous, a total overreach, and a complete waste of taxpayer money."
• Councilman Chris Seelbach wrote on Facebook, "Sending Judge Tracie Hunter to jail for 6 months only burdens taxpayers and only benefits those of extreme privilege who have been after her from the moment she was elected. A grave injustice."
• Councilwoman Tamaya Dennard didn't mention Hunter, but might as well have, in a Facebook post after the sentencing. She wrote: "So...are y’all finally tired of Joe Deters? Are we going to send him packing in 2020? It’s on us." And then she referenced the Democratic candidate for prosecutor, Gabe Davis, with the hashtag #VoteGabeDavisForHamiltonCountyProsecutor.
• Former Councilwoman Yvette Simpson, who is now chief executive for Democracy for America and does not often weigh in on city issues, called the sentencing, "A dark day in Cincinnati, in Hamilton County.""Shame on Judge Dinkelacker, Joe Deters and everyone else involved in the injustice that occurred today at the Courthouse!" she added, exclamation point included. 

Even Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said Monday Hunter doesn't belong in jail.

He asked Dinkelacker to order a mental health evaluation. ".. She has basically lost everything professionally," he wrote in a letter to the judge.   "A review of her stability to serve jail time hurts no one and may, in some way, aid in your decision to impose the sentence." The sentence was imposed without such an evaluation, which are typically done in cases where it's unclear is a person understands the court proceedings. 

Norbert Nadel, the now-retired judge who sentenced Hunter in December 2014, told The Enquirer in an interview that he believed a jail sentence was necessary.

Nadel said Hunter, a former Hamilton County Juvenile Court judge, had "breached the public trust" when she gave confidential documents to her brother, a juvenile court employee who was in the process of being fired.

"I think an elected official should be held to a higher standard," Nadel said, adding: "The system stood tall – it did not allow itself to be intimidated by a few people."

Kevin Grasha contributed to this report.