Editorial: Don't put Hunter in jail, judge
The sentencing of Tracie Hunter on Friday will be anything but the usual, ordinary conclusion to a trial.
Hamilton County Judge Norbert Nadel must bring to justice a former Juvenile Court judge found guilty of using her position of public trust to commit a felony.
But he must also bring justice to someone who has never been convicted of a crime before and whose lone conviction now is for a low-level offense.
In some parts of town, the court of public opinion has already found Hunter guilty of arrogance on a growing number of counts, including trying to ban Enquirer reporters from her courtroom; putting juvenile convicts back on the street against prosecutors' recommendations; and repeatedly showing up late to her trial.
In other parts of town, Hunter's prosecution has become a symbol of injustice, the victim of a vendetta by a mainly white, Republican county courthouse and prosecutor's office.
Nadel can sentence his former colleague to up to 18 months in prison, and he said after the verdict Oct. 14 that Hunter's illegal use of her public position "could very well justify jail time," according to reporter Kimball Perry.
She stood trial on multiple counts earlier this fall, including backdating court documents, but was found guilty only of having an unlawful interest in a public contract. That charge involved confidential documents that got into the hands of Hunter's brother, a former Juvenile Court employee. The jury deadlocked on the remaining charges, and prosecutors haven't announced plans to retry them.
We agree with Nadel that it is more serious when an elected official breaks the law she has sworn to uphold.
But let's be sure we're punishing Hunter for the single act she was found guilty of – not for the ones the jury deadlocked on and not for her attitude.
Hunter was a bad judge, and we're glad to see her off the bench. However, an abnormally harsh sentence would feed suspicions in the African-American community that the justice system works differently for them than for white people.
Probation is the typical sentence for someone with no record convicted of a low-level offense, according to local legal experts. It's also the best punishment in Hunter's case – probation and her removal from the seat she fought so long and hard to win.
Hamilton County GOP Chairman Alex Triantafilou, a former judge and one of Hunter's more vocal critics, has a more practical reason for not wanting to see her go to jail: "She has already cost taxpayers enough. There's lots of remedies that don't involve spending taxpayers' dollars to put her behind bars."
For one thing, Nadel can and should order a mental health evaluation, Triantafilou said. That's a good idea.
Hunter's harshest punishment could come not from a Hamilton County judge but from the Ohio Supreme Court, which investigates possible wrongdoing by attorneys. Regardless of whether she goes to jail, that court could take away her license to practice law.
It wouldn't be realistic to think that the Tracie Hunter Show will end when Nadel sentences her Friday. One or more appeals are certainly in the wings from Clyde Bennett, her hard-working and imaginative attorney.
However, we hope that with an appropriate sentence of probation on the single felony count, public attention can move to the bigger issues in our community, like child poverty, jobs and fair elections.
Don't put Hunter in jail, judge.
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