Judge Phlegm-ing messes up

Just the facts, ma'm

Earlier this month, Anthony Abbate was convicted of aggravated battery by Judge John Fleming (pronounced Phlegm-ing) after a bench trial. More recently, that same judge handed down this sentence:

• no jail time
• two years probation
• mandatory attendance at anger management classes
• home curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
• 130 hours of community service

Abbate (250 lbs.) was convicted of beating a female bartender (Karolina Obrycka at 125 lbs.) because he fell down. That's the reason - because he fell down. That's really what this assault boils down to. He was where he wasn't supposed to be - behind the bar - and embarrassed himself. Bartender had even told him not to go to this area.

But he did it anyway and this link shows what happened next:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49kgG0s7lVk

Sure, she was "touching" him - though no one could say she was striking him, though she did make physical contact. More accurately, she was leaning on him or trying to maneuver him from behind the bar. But he fell - and then he reacted. Falling was probably a blow to his dignity, though he probably slipped due to being very drunk and/or because the floor might have been slippery.

If you watch this video, you'll see that Obrycka was not tossing Abbate around (in the words of his lawyer), "like a rag doll." If Abbate looked ragged at all, that's because he was a bit stumbly-bumbly on his feet - because he was drunk.

About that judge

Read this next sentence carefully:

"If I believed sentencing Anthony Abbate to prison would stop people from getting drunk and hitting people, I'd give him the maximum sentence," [Judge] Fleming said.

That remark is just plain stupid. This guy went to law school!? Judge Phlegm-ing could have sentenced Abbate to six months in jail or one month or some token time to be spent in the can, along with probation after his release. To this Judge, I would say:

"Sentencing Abbate to max prison time would not stop people from getting drunk and hitting people. But you are purposely ignoring the power of deterrence, which you admitted had to be considered before you passed sentence. If you had actually sentenced a Chicago cop to jail time, that would make other Chicago cops stop and think: ‘Oh, oh, the free pass is over - no more above-the-law treatment for us. I can't kick lady-bartender ass whenever I feel like it.'"

Judge Phlegm-ing was derelict in his duty by not ordering any jail time. Chicago area citizens (over 575 of them) expressed their outrage at his decision by logging on to a Chicago Tribune newspaper website*. Over 95% of these comments were in favor of jail time.

As for getting Abbate fired

None of the media sources I read explained how it is that a convicted felon can keep his job as a cop. I've read that the head cop wants Abbate out and that there's movement to get him fired. But why is there any question about this? How is dismissal not automatic? Unless ... maybe - just maybe - such a felon only loses his job if he serves time in jail. Is there some kind of escape clause if probation-only is the sentence? [Is that what you were thinking-but-not-saying, Judge Phlegm-ing?]

Also, media should have investigated how the curfew part of the sentence is going to be enforced. Is Abbate being ordered to wear an ankle bracelet so his whereabouts can be monitored, to ensure he's really home between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m? Or are a bunch of pissed-off members of NOW going to have to shadow Abbate with a videocamera? I'd say, "Forget that - videotaped evidence didn't seem to matter much during the trial, so it won't mean much in terms of claiming curfew violation."

So where do we stand?

I've been a lifelong Chicago resident and, like (too) many others, I have my own bad cop tale to tell. Back in the early ‘80s, I and my brother were jumped by some strong-arm robbers while we were bar hopping at 2 a.m. The odds were four against two but ... they didn't realize my bro was used to odds like that, so they got more than they bargained for. By the time the attack was over, though, I had been kicked in the face and was pretty bloody.

Nearby, I saw a squad car waiting for a traffic light to change, so I ran up and knocked on the driver's side window. One cop was in that car and - you guessed it - he was stuffing his face with a doughnut. He took one casual un-caring look at me (saw the blood...how could he not?), then noticed the light had changed. Then he drove off.

My brother saw that and was so pissed off, he threw a rock at the departing squad. Me? I just busted out laughing. Chicago's finest? Indeed. Reminded me of a line in an old Bob Dylan song:

"The cops don't need you and, man, they expect the same."

My fellow Chicagoans are pretty fed up with the one-party system in our town that actually encourages bad cop behavior as well as other rampant forms of corruption. Problem is, we're just like the citizens of Iran in that, all we can do is let the whole world know we're being abused. [Blog on, good people.] Mayor Daley will not lose his job over this. And Judge Phlegm-ing will be re-elected in another few years, if he wishes to remain on the bench.

So that means "they" get away with "it?" Not really, for karma has an interesting way of working - though not always immediately and not always in obvious ways. I mean, perhaps Judge Phlegm-ing might have a female family member who ends up getting assaulted in a bar by a rogue cop. The irony is, he wouldn't be able to "seek justice" by serving as a judge in that case. He would be disqualified due to conflict of interest.

All he could do would be to stew on the sidelines... like the rest of us...then he'd know how it feels.

Steven Searle (was) a candidate for U.S. President in 2008:

"To Abbate's fellow officers who are trying to rally around his ‘cause,' I would ask: ‘Would you want a guy like that as a partner, watching your back?' Usually people who bellow in bars (‘Nobody tells me what to do!') are in definite need of someone to tell them what to do - a prison guard, for instance" - Steve.

Founder of The Best Party Available

Contact me: bpa_cinc@yahoo.com

*

http://www.topix.net/forum/source/chicago-tribune/TK357SOOSQ9QK9ET8/p5

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