Consider the old version of slavery and the new version of slavery. Then evaluate our criminal "justice" system. Are the acts we call crimes, really crimes deserving punishment? Is alcohol better than marijuana? Why do we have the laws we have? Why do judges deliver sentences they deliver?
Does the Paul Manafort sentence reflect a fair system, or rigged for the rich, white man?
Am I biased to think white collar crime is treated differently than drug crime? No, we fear drugs more than someone who has ruined our lives financially.
"Is Paul Manafort’s sentence too light? He fared worse than many fraudsters, data shows."
By Justin Jouvenal - Julie Tate - Rachel Weiner March 8, 2019 at 10:07 PM
"Paul Manafort’s prison sentence of less than four years on bank- and tax-fraud charges Thursday sparked outrage from commentators who said it was too light a punishment for his crimes.
But a review of data for all 452 similar cases nationwide in fiscal 2018 show President Trump’s former campaign chairman received a sentence that was somewhat stiffer than other federal defendants’ prison terms.
The average prison sentence in such bank-fraud cases was about 31 months, roughly 16 months shorter than the 47 months Manafort received for convictions in federal court in Northern Virginia, according to an analysis of court data maintained by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC).
But Manafort, who was convicted by a jury in August 2018, fared much better when compared with other defendants who were also convicted by federal juries."
I feel like Judge Ellis somehow felt a kindness for Mannafort. Why?
"At a trial last year, Manafort was found guilty of hiding millions of dollars in overseas bank accounts and later falsifying his finances to get loans. He had made the money lobbying on behalf of Ukrainian politicians.
Ellis called the guidelines in Manafort’s case “excessive” and noted that judges in a “substantial majority” of such cases over the past decade had recommended sentences below the guidelines, before meting out Manafort’s sentence. He imposed a 47-month sentence for bank fraud, with lower terms on the other counts, all to run concurrently.
Ellis noted that Manafort had no prior criminal record. The judge also appeared to find persuasive cases cited by Manafort’s attorneys in which major tax evaders got little or no prison time."
I am not wrong about sentencing of rich white men.
"Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), at a presidential campaign stop in South Carolina on Friday, called Manafort’s sentence an example of a “broken” system.
“We are looking at further evidence in America’s judicial system of absolute unfairness where white-collar as opposed to other types of crime” is involved, said Harris, the former attorney general of California. She compared Manafort with a man in Mississippi who recently got a 12-year-prison sentence for having marijuana in his car."
Is this sentence for the rich white man for a white collar crime fair? The tribal Trump supporters think so.
"Skeptics of the Russia investigation saw Manafort’s sentence as vindication of their criticisms.
“The sentence was a lot less than the out of control Angry Democrat prosecutors wanted,” Trump’s attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani said in a statement. “They should be ashamed of their horrendous treatment of Paul Manafort who they pressured relentlessly because, unlike Michael Cohen, he wouldn’t lie for them.”"
"Manafort sentence highlights unequal treatment of poor, minority defendants"
Analysis: The 47-month prison term is also an outlier by the standards of similar white collar schemes.
March 8, 2019, 3:22 PM EST By Ken Dilanian
"Manafort sentencing marks rare reprieve for Trump world in Mueller probe"
Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN Updated 11:42 AM ET, Fri March 8, 2019
https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/08/politics/donald-trump-paul-manafort-sentencing/index.html
"A public defender explains why Paul Manafort’s sentence is so unfair"
It’s indicative of the disparities in the criminal justice system.
By Li Zhou li@vox.com Mar 8, 2019, 12:30pm EST
https://www.vox.com/2019/3/8/18256087/paul-manafort-sentence
"Manafort gets 47 months in prison for financial fraud"
The sentence is the longest to date for a Trump associate ensnared in the special counsel's investigation, but much shorter than expected.
By DARREN SAMUELSOHN, JOSH GERSTEIN and MATTHEW CHOI
03/07/2019 06:59 PM EST Updated 03/07/2019 10:12 PM EST
"Manafort’s ‘mind-boggling’ 47-month sentence prompts debate over judicial system’s ‘blatant inequities’"
By Reis Thebault and Michael Brice-Saddler March 8, 2019 at 11:21 AM
"Duncan Levin, a former federal prosecutor and expert in financial crimes, said Manafort’s sentence was very light “by any stretch of the imagination.” Manafort, who once agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors but then was found to have lied to them, got a sentence that resembled someone’s who did not renege on their cooperation agreement, Levin said."
It would seem that cheating on a plea deal with the government should add to the man's punishment. It did not.
"Scott Hechinger, a senior staff attorney at Brooklyn Defender Services, an organization that provides legal representation to defendants who cannot afford it, used one of his recent clients, who was just offered a 36-to-72-month sentence, as an example. The crime? Stealing $100 worth of quarters from a residential laundry room. Hechinger’s client may wind up doing more time than Manafort, a man who defrauded the Internal Revenue Service out of $6 million."
Want another example?
" . . . cited the case of Crystal Mason, an ex-felon who was sent back to prison for five years after voting in the 2016 presidential election while on probation — an act she says she didn’t know was illegal."
What is fair, more harsh or more fair sentences?
"Hechinger and other advocates of criminal justice reform who weighed in on Manafort’s sentence stressed that they were not calling for harsher overall punishment — simply a justice system that was more just.
“I’m not advocating here or anywhere for worse treatment for all,” he said. “Just wish my clients received same treatment as the privileged few.”"
