The Heir, the Judge and the Homeless Mom: America's Prison Bias for the 1%

[xchrom]

https://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/04/06-2


The eight-year prison sentence of Robert H Richards IV was suspended. Shanesha Taylor languished in prison for more than a week. Photographs: Delaware State Police Department; Scottsdale Police

In 2009, when Robert H Richard IV, an unemployed heir to the DuPont family fortune, pled guilty to fourth-degree rape of his three-year-old daughter, a judge spared him a justifiable sentence – indeed, only put Richard on probation – because she figured this 1-percenter would "not fare well" in a prison setting.

Details of the case were kept quiet until just the other day, as Richard’s ex-wife filed a new lawsuit accusing him of also sexually abusing their son. Since then, the original verdict has been fueling some angry speculation – shock, horror - that the defendant's wealth and status may have played a role in his lenient sentencing.

I hate to shatter anyone's illusions, but inequality defines our criminal justice system just as it defines our society. It always has and it always will until we do something about it, beyond just getting upset at local news stories.

America incarcerates more people than any other country on the planet, with over 2m currently in prison and more than 7m under some form of correctional supervision. The people who make up this outsize correctional population do not typically come from the Delaware trust-fund-creep demographic: more than 60% are racial and ethnic minorities, and the vast majority are poor.

[riderinthestorm]

1. K&R for an important point. Thanks for this xchrom!

I'm glad someone keeps bringing poverty issues back to the front page of DU so frequently.

[xchrom]

6. ...

[Orrex]

2. She should have had the sense to be a white male heir to billions.

So, really, she brought it on herself.

[Enthusiast]

3. Well done! K&R!

No one is going to fare well in prison. But that only seems to matter if you are a member of the 1%.

[99Forever]

4. But.. but ... but...

...


I got nothin'.

K&R

[Octafish]

5. Equal Justice Under Law...

...is for the little people. Like taxes.

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. kick

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. 89k donated for her as of this morning

http://www.youcaring.com/help-a-neighbor/shanesha-taylor-fundraiser/153519

[xchrom]

9. +1