Paul Manafort sentenced to about 4 years in prison in Virginia case [Washington Post]
Caught selling or using drugs? You’re a dirty, no-good criminal who deserves to rot in jail for the majority of your adult life. This event will destroy your life and you deserve it.
Caught committing bank fraud and stealing millions of dollars from the United States government through tax evasion? You’re a “good friend” and a “generous person” who doesn’t deserve to be subject to “excessive” federal sentencing guidelines. We want to make sure we do not subject your life to unnecessary hardships.
This is the most insane explanation for a short prison sentence I’ve ever heard from a judge: Anyone who doesn’t think Manafort’s punishment is tough enough should “go and spend a day, a week in jail or in the federal penitentiary. He has to spend 47 months.”
Has this ever been a consideration when sentencing people for drug crimes? No. Never. Not once.
The message is simple: If you are wealthy, you do not deserve to be subject to the same punishments as others in society. If you are wealthy, you are a better human being than a person who is poor.
Our justice system is fucked.