Community Chat

[Johnnyeager]

Next week starts the first round of sentencing hearings for parents in Operation Varsity Blues, Felicity Huffman among them.

The sentencing judge in many of these cases will first hold a special hearing to determine basically the answer to this question:  Did the parents cause any financial harm to anyone, and if not, is any jail time appropriate?"

The federal prosecutors oppose this hearing and are still seeking prison sentences.  There is concern that light sentencing in the first three cases next week send the wrong message.

When this case broke, many posters hear said that because of status and wealth no parents would see any time in jail.

I disagreed, asserting that no jail time would signal to the public that status wealth and privilege do indeed amount to special consideration, under the law.  

And, if these parents who plead guilty receive sentences with no jail time, how will the parents facing trial feel?  

Stay tuned.  Felicity's sentencing will certainly make all media headlines.

[cherry]

The mills of justice grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small

[Bri369]

We shall see.

I'm really not sure which way this is going to go. 

[4kitties]

I do not think they will get any punishment at all.  Not like if my husband or I had done something like this for our daughters.  I think there is a two tiered justice system.  The rich always seem to get off with no problem.  😫😫😫😫😫

[aprildreams]

There is definitely a two tier justice system in our country unfortunately.  Look no further than the government.

[gardenman]

The average time served for murder in the US is somewhere between 7-16 years (depending on which stats one looks at) some people serve as little as three to four years for murder, so don't expect too much, if anything in the way of jail time for merely buying a kid's way into college. It's not like they were the only ones doing it either. It's very, very common. They were just dumb enough (unlucky enough?) to get caught.

[hopi]

There should be no jail time.  This was not a crime.

The wealthy, famous and connected have gotten their children placed in schools for centuries and not just the US.

[Nancy Drew]

Rule of thumb celebrities should receive no more and no less than what the average Joe gets. But we all know that doesn’t happen. Like it or not celebrities tend to get lucky breaks. This should of shed a light onto the unfair way some get into the schools and start an over haul. That should have been the silver lining but I am not holding my breath. 

[beckyb1012]

I never thought they would or should receive jail time as part of the punishment for this.  Does not matter if college level student to a private nursery school as the recipient of the money.  Famous or not famous, wealth or no wealth.  I just do not feel jail time is acceptable for the parents.  The school officials are a different story for punishing in my opinion since they are repeated offenders to the crime and for probably for quite a long time.

[Johnnyeager]

If there was no crime, as a few here seem to adhere to fervently, to what did these parents plead guilty?  Why plead if there was no crime.   I guess the federal prosecutors misunderstood the federal statutes.