photo credit: DFree // Shutterstock
Desperate House Wives actress, Felicity Huffman has been sentenced to 14 days behind bars for paying $15,000 to have her daughters SAT scored rigged for college.
Many people are mad. How does someone get 14 days for something seemingly serious.
In 2011, there was a black woman named Tanya McDowell. She was homeless, split her days and nights between living in a Bridgeport apartment with a friend and a Norwalk homeless shelter, had used the address of her son’s babysitter to enroll him in the Norwalk public school system as a kindergartener. She was given 5 years in prison for “stealing an education.” She spent 3 years behind bars, was given three years of probation after being released, and was ordered to pay the city of Norwalk roughly $6,500 in back tuition.
“Who would have thought that wanting a good education for my son would put me in this predicament,” she said during her sentencing for the drug charges. “I have no regrets seeking a better education for him. I do regret my participation in this drug case.”
The prosectors in Felicity Huffman’s case, tried to fight that her and the others that rigged the system, paying their their children’s SAT scores, stole opportunities from other prospective students who rightfully earned their spot at the school. The judge basically said that the law doesnt consider the possibility that some other students were denied admission because of Felicity paying for her daughter’s scores. They claim their was no loss in the situation. Leading Felicity to only get 14 days behind bars. Which is what someone gets for stealing a bottle of wine from the ABC store. She must also pay a $30,000 fine and perform 250 hours of community service.
John Legend has a good point thought. He says, “I get why everyone gets mad when rich person X gets a short sentence and poor person of color Y gets a long one. The answer isn’t for X to get more; it’s for both of them to get less (or even none!!!). We should level down not up.”
The system really needs to be changed.
Source: TMZ & Oxygen