Unfair Justice System

在美国，虽都说法律面前每个公民是平等的，但是在面对不同社会地位的公民来说，事实上是存在着不公平的，本文就说到一个没有社会地位而又贫穷的美国公民和一个CEO在触犯法律之后的不同结局。

Roy Brown, a 54 year-old homeless man, robbed the Capital One Bank in Shreveport, Louisiana in December 2007. Later in Caddo District Court he was sentenced for 15 years in prison for the robbery of only 100 dollars. Being homeless, he was hungry and needed 100 dollars to stay at the detox center. He walked into the bank and put one hand in his pocket to pretend that he had a weapon. He asked the teller for money, and she offered him three stacks of money, but he only took a 100 bill. What’s more, the next day he came to the police station voluntarily and told the police his crime because he was remorseful. However, he would be put into prison for 15 years after all.

On the other hand, Paul R. Allen, the CEO of Taylor, Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Corp(TBW)-one of the nation’s largest privately held mortgage lenders, was sentenced to 40 months in prison for  helping Lee B. Farkas to defraud the U.S. Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program(TARP). The fraud scheme caused BPW to collapse in 2009 along with Alabama-based Colonial Bank, of which the collapse was the sixth largest bank failure in the US. Other two banks - Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas - suffered great loss, not to mention nearly 2000 employees also lost their jobs after the crime became public. Allen was chief executive of TBW, by the time he became CEO in2003 this fraud has already been planned. In fact, the fraud scheme was considered one of the biggest corporate frauds in U.S. history. Despite the seriousness of this case, Allen’s sentence was slightly less than the six-year term sought by federal prosecutors. 

The two cases drew lots of attention after being reported. Seemingly, the sentence for Brown is too cruel while the one for Allen is too tolerant. As a matter of fact, lots of news reports online covered them together with a title of something like “Two Sentence”. Not only net citizens but also web editors claimed the sentences to be unfair. For instance, one website posted that “Earlier today, Electronic Frontier Foundation co-founder John Perry Barlow highlighted two recent news stories that demonstrate the degree to which the U.S. criminal justice system casually crushes the lives of poor defendants, while coddling the rich.” (Snopes.com)Many angry people even stated that they should help Brown to fight for justice. Like John Perry Barlow, most people attributed the huge difference between the two sentences to race and wealth. However, more should be understood than just the difference between the two people in wealth and race. 

There are factors which help mitigate the sentence of Allen. His crime was a non-violent one for example, and the crime was already planned before he became CEO. Moreover, Lee Farkas-sentenced thirty years in prison- instead of Allen was the mastermind of the fraud. Allen was also one of the six people who cooperated with investigators and his testimony against Farkas earned him a credit on his sentence. After deepening the knowledge of Allen’s case, the seemingly unjust sentence is easier to understand. Allen, though committed an evil and unpardonable crime, got the proper punishment he deserved. 

When it comes to Brown, the homeless man who would spend next 15 years in prison for 100 dollars, there are also factors ignored by many people that have an impact on his sentence. He was put into prison not because of the money, but his crime. His behavior was classified as first degree crime-the offender takes no weapon with him but makes the victim to believe he has a weapon and takes something valuable. Another factor that may have contributed to his sentence is prior conviction. Although Brown is regretful for what he did-the poor man told the police his mother didn’t raise him this way, the law is the law, and he should be responsible for his behaviors.

 

However, it can’t be said that the strong opinions of people on race and wealth make no sense.Indeed, things like this happen a lot. For instance, Jamie Scott and Gladys Scott were convicted of orchestrating an armed robbery in 1993 in Mississippi. They along with other three teenagers robbed no more than 11 dollars. But they were both received double life sentences.

It is very cruel sentences for two teenage girls who have no previous criminal records. What’s more, the governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour pardoned more than 200 people, among which there were 6 people who killed their wives or girlfriends. On the contrary, the governor didn’t pardon the Scott sisters. After 16 years, the Scott sisters were released from prison for kidney donation. Before that, their petition to appeal to U.S. Supreme Court failed twice. The Scott sisters, being poor and black, were punished too much and didn’t had the chance to get the same treatment like wealthy or white people have. 

I strongly agree with the statement that the best way for a society to instill confidence in its citizens is by implementing a fair and unbiased justice system in which the punishment actually matches with crime.The most important premise of a constitutional society is that all people regardless of race and wealth shared the same rights and be treated equally when facing lawsuit. Otherwise, the law will lose its authority and function of restricting unwarrantable activities because people are treated differently. People will wonder why the law shows different mercy to different people. In consideration of that, it’s obvious that the current situation of justice system needs improvement. Like Brown and the Scott sisters, poor people can’t afford good lawyers as the rich and powerful do, and their fates are facilely determined by severe sentences for some mistakes they aren’t even aware of. More should be done than just feeling sorry for them. In case more tragedies like this happen, officials should indeed focus on this problem and give more opportunities to the poor. 

  Work Cite
Article contrasts sentences given to Royal Brown and Paul R. Allen, Crime Stories,
http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/roybrown.asp
Article contrasts sentences given to Royal Brown and Paul R. Allen, Crime Stories,
http://melaniannews.net/tag/ex-mortgage-ceo/
Article contrasts sentences given to Royal Brown and Paul R. Allen, Crime Stories,
http://civilliberty.about.com/b/2011/06/23/two-sentences.htm
Article contrasts sentences given to Paul R. Allen, Crime Stories,
http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/morning_call/2011/06/former-taylor-bean-ceo-gets-3-years-in.html
Article contrasts sentences given toHaley Barbour,
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/8-of-the-murderers-haley-barbour-pardoned-killed-their-wives-girlfriends/
Article contrasts sentences given to the Scott sisters, Crime Stories,
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2010/nov/03/the-tragic-case-of-the-scott-sisters/

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