Criminality is the act of breaking the law. What is a crime in one place may not necessarily be a crime in another. Not everyone is punished equally for committing a crime. I know what I said is not news to anyone, but some of the rich and powerful receive such ridiculously small sentences and are either given probation or a short stay in a holiday jail that this has to turn most of our collective stomachs. On top of this, other people are not bound by the same laws we are even though these laws bind everyone else. I have talked about this before. Congress is not bound by the insider trader law for stock trading or even anti-discrimination laws. The congress passed bills exempting themselves from several laws.

A teenager who came from a very rich family in Texas decided it would be a good idea to get drunk then hop in a car and go for a drive. Because of his careless act four people died. This happened in 2013. His lawyers decided the best way to defend him was predicate his case on the fact he suffered from “affuenza.” They claimed in his whole life he never had to suffer any consequences for any of his actions in the past. This was not the first time he was arrested. This time he was 16 years old, but when he was 15 years old he was caught by police with a naked 14 year old girl in a parked pickup truck. A psychologist testified he had been brought up with such a privileged life style that there were no consequences for bad behavior. He received 10 years’ probation and a short stay in a rehabilitation facility to the outrage of many in the community. Was this sentence predetermined before the trial took place? This same judge who one year earlier let this rich kid down easy decided she would sentence a 14 year old boy to 10 years in jail for punching a man who later died. That boy was not rich and was a member of a minority race.

It pays to be a star at Stanford University. If you are it seems you can do the most despicable of crimes and just get a slap on the wrist. A star swimmer raped an unconscious woman and was eventually arrested and stood trial. To show you what kind of family he came from, his father sent a letter to the judge stating the rape was only “20 minutes of action.” This seems like another case where money and privilege shaped a young boy’s life and taught him he could do whatever he wanted no matter who he hurt or committed a crime against. The district attorney asked for a sentence of 6 years. The judge however would have none of it and sentence the star to 6 months in jail and probation. About the only saving grace was this caused the man to become a registered sex offender. The sentence caused an outcry and a petition was signed by 191,000 people for a recall of the judge.

Some crimes are more serious than others and when we look at the spectrum of crimes we see the rich get treated better across the board. One crime which is minor when compared to murder and rape is shoplifting. One rich real estate agent decided she would steal items from Saks Fifth Avenue, so she took about $1,500 worth of merchandise. I have to think it was for the thrill since she was more than able to make the purchases and it would have not meant much to her. She got caught and arrested and went to trial. In cases like this most people get community service along with fines and probation. This lady was only given 5 days community service. Could it be the judge was playing favorites?

What happens when a very important fund manager almost kills someone with his new car? He gets two minor traffic violations. This guy was driving when he hit a doctor who was going for a bike ride. He didn’t pull over until sometime later and reported damage to his car to an auto shop. The doctor suffered severe spinal damage and brain bleeding and will never be the same. We are talking about a man who manages a fund worth over 1 billion dollars. His defense was his new car smell triggered his sleep apnea. This certainly didn’t explain why he only called a repair shop and never reported the fact the doctor was laying back in the road dying.

A man who was the heir to a large fortune had pleaded guilty to molesting a child. He was worth billions. Under these circumstances one would think he would have the book thrown at him for pleading guilty, but the book was more like a pamphlet. He was fined $6,000 which is pocket change to a billionaire, 4 months in jail and 60 days Huber which is a correctional program which allows prisoners to come and go unescorted for work release. One has to wonder how a person like this can ruin a child’s life and just receive a slap on the wrist. Another billionaire who was heir to a huge chemical company fortune was convicted of a despicable crime. This man had raped his 3 year old daughter. He was convicted of the full crime after trial. I bet you think he went to jail for such a terrible crime don’t you? No that would only happen to other less rich people. His sentence was 8 years’ probation. These kinds of sentences should at least sicken the rest of us and the judges giving out these sentences should be removed from the bench. The reality of life is maybe he had been a big campaign donor or the judge thought he would offend his backers by sending this person to jail.

Now I will tell you about a popular musician who literally got away with several crimes at once. Police got a call there was a problem in his home. He was holding his wife hostage with a shotgun to her head. The SWAT was called in and he held them off for four hours. After they arrested him they found his home was loaded with drugs. It looked like this guy was going to jail for a very long time. Again if you think this you would be wrong. I don’t even know if he was ever charged with a crime. All I know is he was only sent to Anger Management.

Banks and companies too big to fail. People too rich to be punished for their crimes. Politicians so corrupt they try and hide what they are doing when they sign bills which only hurt us more. What is happening in this country?