It's all in the Fine Print

So Kwame’s off the hook with the Detroit City Council’s attempts to remove him. Apparently the City Charter is too vague on the question of the Council’ s power to force the Mayor out of office. What a shock.

It smells to me like another case of lawyers with no real conscience. Doesn’t it seem that every time a shyster lawyer is trying to get his guilty client out of trouble we hear, ‘the law’s too vague’? That was the essence of Kilpatrick's attorneys argument, and the judge, who is a former lawyer himself, agreed.

Perhaps in this case the Charter wasn't explicit enough; I don't know. The trouble is that we’re reaching the point where every law is going to be called vague when it doesn’t suit a particular lawyer’s view. If we aren’t careful we will hear things like, ‘my client can’t be guilty of murder, your honor, for the law does not explicitly state that Joe Jones cannot shoot John Smith with malicious intent to murder, and Joe merely shot John’.

You don’t think it’s possible? Well, how many things have happened in courts lately which you thought would never happen? As yourself that question first. Then answer mine.