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Former Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane, the Scrantonian whose meteoric rise to power was matched only by her spectacular fall, will report to prison at 9 sharp Thursday morning.

Two main points we want to make before she lines up for her first lousy lunch:

1. It took way too long to force her to serve her punishment.

2. Prison is exactly where she belongs and we can’t wait to see the first picture of her in an orange jumpsuit.

On the first point, let us remind readers that she has been free on $75,000 bail since she was sentenced to 10 to 23 months behind bars in October 2016.

That’s more than two years ago, folks.

You don’t have to be a regular court observer to know it’s very odd for someone to still not be in prison serving her term some 25 months after a sentence was handed down.

Kane, in desperate attempts to avoid her punishment, was busy filing appeals over these last two years.

That’s her right, though we’d imagine — as is usually the case — her stature and financial wherewithal gave her much more access to the courts than the average Joe or Jane.

But now, all those legal avenues have been closed off.

She lost multiple appeals in front of multiple courts.

The state Supreme Court decided not to hear her appeal.

A Montgomery County judge Tuesday told her to report to prison.

Ms. Kane still wasn’t done begging for mercy, though.

After all that, she went back to the courts Wednesday and asked for a “brief extension” so she could make arrangements with her ex-husband for the care of her 16- and 17-year-old sons, The Morning Call of Allentown reported.

You’ve got to be kidding!

She’s had two years to plan for her jail stint.

That’s not enough?

Fortunately, the judge showed good sense and denied Kane’s final, final attempt at avoiding prison.

Now, you might be asking why we are so adamant about the 52-year-old serving time.

Simply put, she was a public official who violated the public’s trust.

We believe when that happens, there must be stern punishment to show the public such behavior won’t be tolerated and to serve as a deterrent to others in office who might suffer from a nefarious thought on occasion.

To rewind a bit here, Kane played by her own rules and got busted for doing so.

She leaked secret grand jury information as a way to retaliate against an ex-prosecutor who she thought had made her look bad in a previous story.

So, instead of following the law, she put her own petty interests (revenge) ahead of doing the public’s business.

Then, to top it all off, she lied about it under oath — hence the perjury conviction to go along with convictions for obstruction and conspiracy.

Kane needs to serve all or most of the 10 to 23 months her sentence calls for because cutting her a break at this point would ruin the point that prosecutors and the rest of the system are trying to make.

Absolutely no one — including the chief law enforcement officer of a big, important state — is or ever will be above the law.

You do the crime, you do the time.

We’re sure Kane the prosecutor would’ve agreed with that.

Kane the convict should as well.

Now, please smile nice for your new mugshot, Kathy.

All of us law-abiding citizens can’t wait to see it.

— Times Leader

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