Celebrities Getting Punished Less Harshly

A major dilemma that has been going on for years now, is how celebrities are being treated better in court than average people.

A great example of this is Martha Stewart. She was charged on four counts including lying about a transaction where Stewart withdrew stock in a company that plummeted the day after she withdrew her stock, and altering records. Stewart saved over 51,000 dollars by selling her stock and was faced with up to 20 years in prison. However, Stewart got away with only 9 months of jail time. Less than 5

% of the maximum sentence.

It is obvious that because of Stewart's high status and her popularity, she was able to get away with less than 1 year. If this were any other person in the U.S., I would believe that the sentencing would have been much harsher than what Stewart got away with.

The judge obviously knew that if Stewart were to go to jail, her show and her career would have been finished, causing stress and anger with many fans of Martha Stewart. I think the judge brought this into account while they were making the final sentencing. If this were any other person in America, there is no way that their sentencing would have been as short as Stewart's.

Another example is Michael Vick. In 2004, he was caught gambling on fights where dogs would battle to the death. He filed a plea agreement that would give him a max-

imum of five years in jail and it was settled for a little more than one year.

Dog fighting is obviously something that is very serious as he was torturing animals and gambling illegally. But he was only given one year because of his high status in society.

Previous to this, he was a star NFL player and the centerpiece of the Atlanta Falcons franchise. I think that Vick was only given a year of prison time so that he could quickly go back and be a star in the NFL once more.

In both of these cases, it is crystal clear that they were sentenced to less than the maximum time ion jail because of their higher status than other people in the U.S. I think that this is morally wrong as celebrities are being sentenced less harshly than any average American.