Judge Small Asked to Step Down for 'Bias' Against Drunken Drivers

A local attorney is asking 48th District Court Judge Kimberly Small to recuse from an upcoming drunken driving case because she's too tough on first-time offenders.

Small is known for her record of "" to first-time drunken driving offenders by sentencing them to jail. Bloomfield Hills attorney Robert Larin cited Small's "inherent bias" and a precedent from 40 years ago in asking she step down from a case scheduled for Thursday, The Detroit Free Press reports.

“This is nothing more than an elected judge legislating from the bench,” California-based attorney Keith Davidson said after Small sentenced former U-M and NBA star Jalen Rose to 20 days jail last summer for rolling his vehicle with a passenger in the car.

During the sentencing of Rose on July 27, “You’re not here because you drank,” she said. “I don’t mind that … I do mind when you get behind the wheel of a two-ton vehicle and use it as a weapon.”