Editor’s notebook: Blind justice takes a break in Tennessee with Trump as president 

Former Sen. Brian Kelsey prepares to enter Nashville’s federal courthouse on Aug. 11., 2023, for sentencing in a federal campaign finance scheme. (Photo: John Partipilo)

One doesn’t need to be a sociologist or criminal justice expert to realize all Americans aren’t treated equally in the courts. Convictions and sentencing include factors like race, economics and politics. 

Lawmakers aren’t exempt from the discrepancies in treatment.

Witness the disparities in the cases of two former Tennessee state senators, Katrina Robinson, a Memphis Democrat, and Brian Kelsey, a Germantown Republican. 

In 2020, Robinson was accused by federal prosecutors of  conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a business she founded to train certified nursing assistants, phlebotomists and licensed practical nurses.

Lawyers for the government alleged she stole about $600,000 from the business for personal travel, wedding expenses and home improvements. The feds initiated the investigation based on an anonymous tip that Robinson bought a Louis Vuitton handbag for $550 using money from her health care business in 2016 — two years before her election. 

Robinson pleaded not guilty but was convicted in 2021 of four counts of wire fraud — two of which were vacated by a federal judge — for $3,500 worth of misappropriated funds. She was fined $46,800 by the court, and her Republican colleagues voted to expel her from the Senate — the first time a state senator was expelled in Tennessee history. 

Kelsey, who was first elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 2004, ascended to the Senate in 2009 when the 31st District seat was vacated by a resignation. He served on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he later chaired. 

In 2016, Kelsey ran for U.S. Congress in Tennessee’s 8th Congressional District, coming in 4th place in the Republican primary, but not without giving the race his all — and then some, according to federal prosecutors. 

They alleged that Kelsey moved $90,000 from his state campaign account to his congressional account, a violation of federal campaign finance laws. According to the charges levied against Kelsey, he then gave $106,000 to Josh Smith, owner of a private Nashville club frequented by Republican lawmakers. Smith, in turn, filtered the money to political action groups — one of which Kelsey’s future wife worked at — to support Kelsey’s campaign. 

In 2022, Kelsey pleaded guilty to two charges, including “conspiracy to defraud the United States” and was sentenced to 21 months in prison. 

Let’s acknowledge that both Robinson and Kelsey were accused of engaging in illegal actions — Robinson of funneling funds from federal grants for her personal use and Kelsey of shifting money to end run federal campaign finance laws. 

We could split hairs about which one is said to have misused more money and who was in elected office at the time of their infractions, but let’s stick to the outcomes. 

Clearly, the number and scale of Robinson’s charges were reduced from what was originally filed, but she lost a Senate seat and paid a significant fine in the process. 

Kelsey, by contrast, would only serve two weeks of his sentence. Soon after his November 2022 guilty plea, he began an attempt to walk back consequences. 

Judge says former Sen. Brian Kelsey can’t take back guilty plea

He attempted to take back his guilty plea, to which federal Judge Waverly Crenshaw said, and I paraphrase, no take-backs. Kelsey claimed that he — an attorney and sitting chair of the Senate Judiciary — didn’t understand his plea because his wife had given birth to twins, and he was tired. 

He fired one team of attorneys and threatened to sue them. Stalled his sentencing. Filed appeals. Asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his appeal, to no avail. As more than one Tennessee politico noted, by the time he finished delaying his sentence, he could have served his sentence and moved on with his life. 

Kelsey apparently came to the end of his legal road on Feb. 25, when he reported to FCI Ashland in Kentucky to begin serving his sentence — which, as it turns out, only lasted two weeks. 

On March 11, President Donald Trump pardoned Kelsey. 

In a fulsome press release, Kelsey said, “God used Donald Trump to save me from the weaponized Biden DOJ.”

“(Trump’s) understanding of this injustice, born from his own experiences with lawfare, has restored my freedom and reaffirmed my faith in true leadership. This pardon isn’t just for me—it’s a victory for every American who believes in one impartial justice system for all,” Kelsey said in the statement.

If a presidential pardon for a former lawmaker who pleaded guilty to actions taken while in office — years before Joe Biden was elected president — constitutes ‘one impartial just system for all,’ one could wonder why Trump hasn’t also pardoned Robinson. 

In this instance, partisan politics is the most likely contributing factor in the disparities between treatment for the two Shelby County pols. 

Even if one rationally thinks administration of the law is suspect, it’s frankly defeating to know that someone with a seasoned legal background who admits to wrongdoing can simply change his mind, as Kelsey did, and walk with few, if any, consequences — while others, like Robinson, pay a price.