Not Every Arrest Deserves A Prosecution
Free at last, free at last, God almighty, JMike is free at last. Yes, that is more or less the exact quote from Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Thomas Gehret who presided over Jason Michaels’ hearing. If you fail to remember why in fact Jason Michaels is appearing before a Philly judge, check our post from last July. After trying to fight a Philly cop with all his drunken bench warming rage, Jason Michaels proved to us today that celebrities do indeed get special treatment. He basically got off with community service and anger management training. I just hope they train him to repress his cop bashing anger and channel it into a Billy Wagner fastball.
All told, it was a relatively minor crime and JMike is probably getting what he deserved. I mean who among us can honestly say they haven’t challenged an authority figure to a duel while drunk? Not I, that’s for sure. However, it does set an unhealthy precedent. Eugene Blagmond, the FOP spokesman, was none too pleased with the outcome. "I’ve never heard of anyone ever assaulting a police officer, as flagrantly as he did, and getting ARD [Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition]. It doesn’t look good, and it certainly doesn’t send the right message to society." You’re right, Mean Gene – give him the chair, like that cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal
. It will free some salary space, that’s for sure.