Varsity Blues

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Guest Columnist

 

Will Aunt Becky wind up in jail? If actress Felicity Huffman’s sentencing in the Varsity Blues college admission scheme on Sept. 13 is an indication, it’s likely. But the bigger question is: Do they deserve it and how much is enough?

Prosecutors have charged 51 people in the Federal college admissions case, including coaches, a college counselor and his employees, and 34 parents whose children allegedly gained admissions to elite colleges based on fraudulent pretenses. Those schemes ranged from, in Lori Laughlin’s case, faking evidence that her daughter was a stellar rowing team member, even though she had never participated in the sport, to knowingly hiring others to take standardized tests for their children. The latter was what Felicity Huffman pleaded to and for which she was sentenced to 14 days in jail, followed by probation to pay a $30,000 fine and perform 250 hours in community service. To date, 15 of the 34 parents have pleaded guilty, and those who haven’t can expect significantly more time than Huffman if they are convicted. But how much is enough?

As a criminal defense attorney, I would argue that 14 days in jail is just enough to disrupt and possibly ruin someone’s life, but not enough to serve as a deterrent. I have certainly argued that a crime like Ms. Huffman’s does not warrant jail, and that her contrition and lack of prior criminal record weigh in favor of a non-incarcerative sentence. But, prosecutors in the Varsity Blues made a persuasive argument for incarceration, mainly based on other comparable cases. The U.S. Attorney cited a case in which Atlanta teachers and school administrators were convicted in a conspiracy to cheat on standardized tests and they received as much as three years in prison; all of the defendants were African American. (NY Times, Sept. 13, 2019, “Felicity Huffman Sentenced to 14 Days Behind Bars”). The Government pointed to another case in Ohio, in which an African American mother was sentenced to five years in prison for using her father’s address to enroll her children in a suburban school district.

Celebrity, race, wealth have all, historically, led to favorable treatment in the criminal justice system.

The Judge, in pronouncing Huffman’s sentence, seemed mindful of not appearing to favor her because of her position in society, when she said, “Trying to be a good mother doesn’t excuse this. A person in a position of wealth and the position you are in is in a much easier position in this meritocracy. I do think this is the right sentence here... [It allows] you to move forward and you can rebuild your life after this. You pay your dues.”

Judge Talwani added, however, that without a term of incarceration, Huffman would face a future of “the community asking you why you got away with this.” But the question remains, what does the community make of a jail sentence of 14 days? And the issue, to this defense lawyer, isn’t why doesn’t Huffman get more? It’s, why doesn’t the mom in Ohio get less?