Of course, this type of unequal justice has been the norm forever. However, the egregiousness of the crime has finally pulled back the curtain. The son of the Vice President of the United States is involved, and a Delaware judge laid it all out in plain language – the rich get special treatment.
The botched prosecution by the AG’s office and Jurden’s resulting sentence wasn’t simply bad, it was so bad that it amounts to an attack on the courts. It spits on the idea that poor people can get a fair shake in our legal system. Resignations and firings must ensue.
They will not ensue. Nobody will be fired and everyone will go back to pretending that justice is blind in a few months (weeks?…days?). The courts will survive this, but they will be diminished in authority and legitimacy. We will have taken one step closer to the ledge. This is one step away from the ideals expounded on in the Declaration of Independence and one step toward another run of the mill plutocracy. In the end we will be another footnote. A historical curiosity that showed a possible other path to the world for a few brief centuries, then got tired of the rigorous effort required to maintain equality and justice.
Wealthy Child Rapist Given Probation As Judge Felt He Would ‘Not Do Well’ in Jail
The heir to the du Pont fortune pled guilty in 2009 to charges of raping his three-year old daughter, but never spent time in jailTime Magazine
American Justice For The Wealthy-No Prison For du Pont Heir Convicted Of Sexually Molesting His Child Because He Would Not “Fare Well In Jail” – Forbes
The outrage over a legal system clearly in the service of the wealthy cuts across party lines.
Wealthy Child Rapist Given Probation as Judge Felt He Would ‘Not Do Well’ in Jail – Breitbart
As the long, excellent article in the News Journal notes, it’s nice to hear judges focusing on the rehabilitative dimension of the justice system, but it’s enraging and offensive to see that this kind of mercy is disproportionately dispensed to the wealthiest members of society, especially as America sinks further into its decades-old scandal of mass-incarceration, becoming one of history’s most prolific imprisoners of poor people and people of color. – Boing Boing
The fact that Jurden expressed concern that prison wasn’t right for Richards came as a surprise to defense lawyers and prosecutors who consider her a tough sentencing judge. Oh well, never mind. One system for the white, rich, deranged parasite to society, another for everyone else. We can’t have people of certain genetic stock inconvenienced in prison. – Daily Kos