[NOTE: Former Pennsylvania Attorney General
Kathleen Margaret Kane faces sentencing Monday, Oct. 24 after a jury convicted
her of charges of perjury and abuse of power, finding she orchestrated the
illegal disclosure of secret grand jury information to the media and engaged in
acts designed to cover up her conduct. She faces a possible maximum sentence of
12 to 24 years in prison. Prosecutors are seeking prison time; defense is
seeking probation or house arrest.]
As Kathleen Kane’s defense lawyer Marc Robert Steinberg
prepared for a Monday sentencing hearing that will decide Kane’s fate, hoping
for a sentence of probation or house arrest for Kane, he asked Judge Wendy
Demchick-Alloy to consider the “good” Kane accomplished as the state’s top cop.
“Despite the conduct that brings her before the court,
Kathleen accomplished a lot of good during her tenure as Pennsylvania’s chief
law enforcement officer,” Steinberg, of Lansdale, wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
Montco Judge Wendy Demchick-Alloy/ Mercury file photo |
It remains to be seen if Demchick-Alloy considers the
reported accomplishments as a mitigating factor in Kane’s favor when she
imposes Kane’s punishment.
Steinberg listed the following Kane accomplishments:
REFUSAL TO DEFEND
PENNSYLVANIA’S GAY MARRIAGE BAN
In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court declared the federal Defense
of Marriage Act unconstitutional. Following the decision, several same-sex
couples and members of their families sued state public officials, Steinberg
said.
“Believing Pennsylvania’s same-sex marriage ban to be
unconstitutional, Ms. Kane courageously said that she could not ethically defend
the statute,” Steinberg wrote. “Ms. Kane faced opposition in defending her
position, but upheld her sworn duty to defend the Constitutions of the United
States and of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
Steinberg said the following year, the U.S. District Court
in Pennsylvania agreed with Kane, finding that the state’s same-sex marriage
ban was unconstitutional.
CREATION OF MOBILE
STREET CRIMES UNIT
Motivated by a desire to combat the state’s growing heroin
epidemic Kane advocated for the creation of a special unit to address the
problem with narcotics, Steinberg said. Her request for state funds to
establish the unit was granted and the mobile street crimes unit was created in
2013.
“In its first deployment alone, the unit made more than 100
arrests and seized approximately 35,000 packets of heroin in Hazelton,
Pennsylvania. The unit’s success has been credited, in part, to its commitment
to working with local police departments,” Steinberg claimed, adding former
Hazelton officials have written letters on Kane’s behalf, “describing the
tremendous improvements the mobile street crimes unit made in the lives of the
citizens of Hazleton.”
CLOSING THE
FLORIDA LOOPHOLE
Steinberg said prior to Kane’s election, Pennsylvanians who
were denied concealed-carry gun permits in Pennsylvania could apply for those permits
in Florida. Pennsylvania’s reciprocity agreement with Florida allowed those
Pennsylvanians denied a permit in Pa. to apply for one in Florida, receive the
permit, and have that Florida permit recognized in Pa.
Kathleen Kane/Photo from Mercury Video by Carl Hessler Jr. |
Shortly after taking office, Kane, according to Steinberg,
revised Pennsylvania’s reciprocity agreement with Florida to restrict
Pennsylvania’s recognition of a Florida concealed-carry permit to those held
only by Florida residents, and requiring Pennsylvania residents to comply with the
Pa. standards.
“By closing the ‘Florida loophole,’ Kathleen Kane ensured
that Pennsylvania authorities would regulate the propriety of issuing
concealed-carry permits for Pennsylvanians,” Steinberg wrote.
EXPANSION OF
ATTORNEY GENERAL’S CHILD PREDATOR UNIT
Steinberg said during Kane’s first year in office she
facilitated an increase in the section’s budget from $1.3 million to $4.3
million, with the additional funds going toward the purchase of two mobile
forensic trucks for on-scene computer analysis, establishing a state-of-the-art
command center, hiring additional agents and lawyers and investing in
additional training.
Steinberg claimed 2013 saw the arrests of 114 child
predators, a six-fold increase over the section’s 2012 arrests.
“Child predator arrest numbers have continued to grow since
that time, and the Child Predator Section remains a national leader in
combatting crimes against children,” Steinberg said.
PREVENTING
PRIVATIZATION OF PENNSYLVANIA LOTTERY
Steinberg said in 2013, Kane successfully prevented the
privatization of the state’s lottery by arguing against a deal that would have
allowed a British company to privately manage the lottery and share in both
oversight of and profits from the lottery, a system that had generated $3.5
billion the year before the deal was presented.
Kathleen Kane/ Photo from Video by Carl Hessler Jr. |
“All of those proceeds remain dedicated solely to programs
benefitting senior citizens the only lottery in the country to do so,”
Steinberg claimed, adding Kane argued the contract violated Pennsylvania law because
it lacked authorization by the legislature, and illegally expanded gambling.
“She
contended that gambling laws implicate important social concerns and thereby
protected the system of checks and balances requiring legislative input for
modification or expansion of those laws. This success by Ms. Kane kept both
funds and jobs in the commonwealth.”
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