It is unfair that people like Lori Loughlin (actress from the Full House) can commit a vast crime and get away with it. She committed mail fraud (scheme using mail to defraud another of money) and honest service fraud (paying a bribe). She paid vast amounts of money for her children to get extra time on their college entrance exams. She paid millions for Ivy league schools to secure admissions for them. Lori is now sentenced to two months in prison and had the option to do her sentence near her home. It is safe to say that if an average citizen committed the same crime, they would be in more trouble then she was.
Lori
was not the only one who indulged in college scams. Felicity Huffman (actress from Desperate Housewives) was caught boosting her daughter's
SAT scores. By the name of Devin Sloane, a businessman in Los Angeles
bribed the university of southern California water polo team with
$250,000 for his son, who was never competitive.
These scams
are problems because many students in the country have worked hard and
deserve to be in the positions these elite children were put into. Some
of the elite children are not talented, and its a laugh in the face of
athletes/ students who are more qualified but aren't privileged.
You are exactly right, Arinze: "It is safe to say that if an average citizen committed the same crime, they would be in more trouble then she was." Do you know if there have been any cases with the same crime committed by Loughlin and Huffman? I would love to see if the Court ruled the same punishment.
ReplyDeleteIt's good that the media is putting the spotlight on the celebrities who are guilty of this. I'm glad to see the non-celebrity folks who indulged in these college scams are also brought to the limelight :-)
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that what these parents have done is wrong, I am not surprised that this is happening. What I don't understand is, if the schools want the money and will take bribes - Why don't they create a different enrollment criteria for the elite instead of taking away hard earned athletic or academic slots of the "common folk?"
ReplyDeleteJust goes to show the flaws in our educational system. This is also a reflection on our current justice system. People with money can always hire a better attorney that can navigate their trial, rather than a designated public defender. I do agree that there is too much incentive for profit in upper educational institutes.
ReplyDeleteRight, the injustice in our society. Absolutely agree if a common person committed this crime they would receive a harsher sentence, but a common person cannot commit this crime, it is not a crime for common people. Common people don't have that type of money sitting around. I also believe the punishment should be harsher, these people have tarnished the life of another boy or girl who have worked an entire lifetime to get into one of these institutions of higher education, and now will not thanks to the criminals undeserving children taking their places.
ReplyDeleteThis case infuriated me when I first heard of what these women had done. I don't know if you're familiar with the Tanya McDowell case but she was a woman who served 5 years in prison for simply falsifying her residence so her daughters can go to a better school. She didn't bribe anyone, she just used her father's address so her daughters could get a better education. 5 years for wanting your child to be given the same advantages that those women had simply because they had money.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your post, I agree that what they did is wrong and it doesn't seem fair to all the students that work hard and have to pay there own way through school.
ReplyDeleteThis definitely show what's wrong with how the world works, the more money a person has equals more power.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many families across the world that do anything everything to secure their children a better future, its only a natural instinct. Yet so many of those families are gravely sentenced and punished. When I heard of these cases I couldn't help but think of the families and children our country has imprisoned at our border. But I guess it must be nice for those Loughlin and Huffman families that they get to stay together.
ReplyDelete