That’s not my point. If we are going to treat Crystal Mason as a hard core criminal (and I’ll bet she didn’t get to chose which prison she went to) then we need to be equal in our judgements. IMO Crystal should never have even been brought up on charges - she made an honest mistake, whereas Lori Loughlin deliberately gamed the system.
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yeah, i find nothing to be outraged by this info. And honestly country club prison is all her crime really should get. I don’t think what she did deserves maximum security solitary confinement (very few things should).
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No one is saying that. We’re saying that this is an example of how the system is rigged for the elites, no matter how much damage they do to our shared systems, such as who gets into elite schools. 
Right?
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This. Every prison should be humane.
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I didn’t suggest what you or anyone did say (that or otherwise). I just stated my opinion on the matter of crime to punishment. And I believe I was clear that no matter who the person is, I do not think the crime in question deserves any type of incarceration beyond the “country club”.
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My point is that she hasn’t “gotten off lightly.” Being in prison, even one with yoga, is a terrible experience, and should be reserved for people who present a clear threat to public safety.
If you point to her and insist that she suffer more because poor people suffer unjustly, all that will happen, all that has ever happened, is that poor people suffer more. And I believe that this perspective is shared by the vast majority of public defenders and defense attorneys who represent disadvantaged clients.
So, even though we both want to end the cruel sentences that poorer people have always received, we have different opinions on the best way to do that.
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She has, compared to other inmates who have committed far less damaging crimes. Someone noted a woman who accidentally voted twice and got 5 years. You might consider that a miscarriage of justice (which is obviously is), but you’re here complaining about us being upset about obvious unfairness in the system, which this is also an example of the unfairness of the system. Laughlin has access to better lawyers, more institutional support, among other things, to get better treatment. No one here is saying she should do hard time, rather it’s yet another example of how the system treats some people one way and others another.
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The solution to this inequity is not to remove it for the rich, but to include it for the poor.
I’m not complaining. I’m pointing out that the way to fix inequities in sentencing isn’t to make them harsher for anyone, but less harsh for everyone.
The case of the woman who received 5 years for voting twice is a miscarriage of justice in and of itself. It’s profoundly unacceptable on its own merits, and it’s unnecessary and unhelpful to suggest that the way to fix it is to make sure that rich criminals suffer more.
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This is not an example of that.
Which no one here argued.
Again, NO ONE argued for that. This, too, is example of the inequality in our criminal justice system.
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If she wasn’t famous, rich and White 5 will get you 10 her sentence would be longer in a much less pleasant facility.
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Neither did Loughlin. To be blunt about it, anybody saying she did (whether that’s someone writing an ill-informed article or a commenter on the internet) is simply misinformed.
Which is the point I was making, but I’m not sure if I made it elequently. The folks arguing that Loughlin got off “lightly” or got a “slap on the wrist” are doing the work of the carceral state because those arguments at their core assume that the punishment Loughlin received should have been more severe.
The fact that there is systemic, rampant injustice in our criminal justice system that often leads to disproportionally excessive sentences for poor people of color does IS NOT fixed by the sentences for rich/white/unsympathetic defendants being increased.
Unfortunately, the vast, vast majority of time judges and prosecutors face meaningful criticism in the press or from the public involves cases in which people think that the defendant got off too easy. That’s what’s meant by our criminal justice system being a one-way ratchet: it is always easier to make penalties more severe than it is to be more “lenient.”
Please don’t misunderstand me: I think Loughlin is a bad person and everyone involved in the bribery scam are shits. But the Crystal Mason’s of the world are not treated more justly by us coming down on the Lori Loughlins harder, or being outraged that some minimum security prisons have good recreational activities in theory.
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I agree with the contention that she would have spent much more time in prison if she wasn’t rich and/or white.
But there is an implication that rich and/or white non-violent offenders should suffer as much as poor and/or black non-violent offenders do. My point is that we should focus on reducing sentences for all non-violent criminals, and that suggestions for making things harder for rich people will inevitably make them much worse for poor people.
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I’ll go you one better–I think there should be massive reductions in the sentencing of most “violent” crimes as well. If folks spent a week in a criminal courtroom anyplace in the country, I think they’d be amazed/horrified to see the kind of nonsense situations that get escalated into charges carrying a potential of years in prison, and the kind of opportunities for non-carceral sentences that we’re missing.
(hope this comes across as a yes, and… rather than a well, actually…)
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I completely agree. The entire system needs to be reevaluated and reformed. Unfortunately, there are very powerful institutions (e.g. prosecutors, police and prison guard unions) who will forever work to make that difficult, if not impossible.
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It sure sounded like @thomdunn was arguing for that:
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I implied nothing, I stated exactly what I meant.
If you choose to presume any ‘implications’ that’s not my issue.
Not unclear; I got it the first time.
I still maintain that White privilege is a huge factor in this case.
I do not disagree that the entire system is broken.
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It might be worth noting that there is a heck of a lot of violent agreement going on regarding this topic, and I’m not excluding myself.
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Do I look like @thomdunn?
But also, that really doesn’t seem like the intent. More like he was highlighting inequities in the system, much like the rest of us. I think that @Melizmatic nails it when she says that if she had not been white and privileged, she would have gotten a much heavier sentence and much less consideration during sentencing.
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I shouldn’t have implied that you implied, but rather the implication comes from the original article and those complaining about yoga in prison.
And I agree with you.
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The problem is that it’s reserved for the “more deserving” criminal, based on wealth and race. Again, this is illustrative of the larger problems we have in our criminal justice system.
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