The Felicity Huffman Sentencing

Felicity Huffman yesterday was sentenced to 14 days in prison for trying to rig her daughter's SAT score.  What is troubling about this sentence is that the normal sentence for a non-violent crime by a defendant with no prior criminal record would be presumptive probation, in almost every court in the land.

Add to that the fact that there was no real victim here, that she chose to cooperate by pleading guilty, and that she showed genuine remorse, and the sentence is just about impossible to justify.  One can't escape the conclusion that the judge and the prosecutor, as so often happens, were unduly harsh because she is a rich celebrity.  Surely an average, run-of-the-mill low-profile defendant would  have received probation in a case like this.

We can only wait and see what Lori Loughlin, who paid $500,000, compared to Huffman's $15,000, will get as  a sentence.  If Huffman's crime is worth 15 days, Loughlin will surely get much more than that given her greater crime, and for her lack of cooperation in choosing to roll the dice with a trial instead of cooperating.