5 ms·

I wish that US law enforcement, who likes to act all tough when dealing with helpless poor people, would instead act tough with white collar criminals. Instead

I wish that US law enforcement, who likes to act all tough when dealing with helpless poor people, would instead act tough with white collar criminals. Instead of taking their fake SWAT team units into twitch streamers homes and to schools where they sit there and let kids get murdered, imagine them storming into Theranos and yanking them straight to jail, and then having a speedy trial, rather than wasting years of our tax dollars to slap them on the wrist.

nerdponx 3y ago
Don't we all? This is the #1 pipe dream of any "commoner" who has lived in organized society since the dawn of history.
borski 3y ago
To be fair, Theranos didn’t get slapped on the wrist. They’re going to prison for many years.
- hotsauceror 3y ago
  Seems to me like 'defrauding some of the most powerful people in the world, misdiagnosing serious diseases, and harassing a whistleblower to the point where he killed himself' is an awfully high bar to clear in order for white-collar crime to be taken seriously. They fined Jammie Thomas, like, $800,000 dollars for downloading 30 songs off of napster or whatever. As far as I know, she didn't get to plead 'inability to pay'.
  - borski 3y ago
    You moved the goalposts. The example was Theranos. I was responding about Theranos. That was the extent of my comment.
    - mcv 3y ago
      I think GP makes a totally valid point. Big companies only get punished hard when they defraud powerful people, normal people get punished hard for doing something a company doesn't like. It really does seem the harshest punishments are handed out for hurting people/companies more powerful than you. The rich and powerful, including corporations, should be held more accountable. Instead, the law seems to get used mostly to keep people in their place. I still remember how HSBC got fined millions for laundering billions for Mexican drug cartels. Normal people would be doing hard time if they did that. Banks get fined less than the size of the crime.
      - hotsauceror 3y ago
        Let's not forget things like the Sackler family's relentless marketing of addictive opiates. They and their expensive retainers get to have lofty discussions about this and that, whether a particular settlement number is _fair_ or in the 'best interests of the patients' or whatever, how the very idea of litigation is hurting their ability to help those who really need it. Contrast that with the tone taken by our most powerful, about the scourge of illegal immigrants bring the very same chemicals into the country by swimming the Rio Grande. I would not be surprised to hear support for summary executions of every third person in Laredo, TX.
    - hotsauceror 3y ago
      The first sentence was explicitly about Theranos. The whistleblower, defrauding former US Defense Secretaries, etc. That was all them.
- jackmott42 3y ago
  maybe? will they get out early? when will they go? its been years while she has been having sex living in mansions and drinking fine wine. a guy selling cigarettes on the streets of NYC without a permit would have been choked to death in seconds. (actual thing that happened) seems like this justice imbalance in the USA is something we can get bipartisan support for changing. lets do it yall.
  - borski 3y ago
    > maybe? will they get out early? when will they go? I don’t know, but that is a question for behavior. I do believe in rehabilitation being the underlying goal of prison, so I’d be thrilled if they came out of it changed people. > a guy selling cigarettes on the streets of NYC without a permit would have been choked to death in seconds. (actual thing that happened) And that is awful. Never said I was defending that. > seems like this justice imbalance in the USA is something we can get bipartisan support for changing. lets do it yall. If only.
  - lupire 3y ago
    Eric Garner wasn't choked to death for committing a crime. He was choked to death because a cop wanted to beat someone up.
cjbgkagh 3y ago
White collar criminals make for the most reliable political donors. I see these fines as a form of sharecropping.
bippihippi1 3y ago
they don't want to rush it and waste the evidence before a full case is ready. if you lose a suit you can't charge them again with the same evidence
sydbarrett74 3y ago
Unfortunately, law enforcement organisations have always existed to protect the interests of the wealthy and powerful. Individual officers and agents may (may!) have empathy for the little person, but their employers have a different agenda.

nerdponx 3y ago

Don't we all? This is the #1 pipe dream of any "commoner" who has lived in organized society since the dawn of history.

borski 3y ago

To be fair, Theranos didn’t get slapped on the wrist. They’re going to prison for many years.

hotsauceror 3y ago
Seems to me like 'defrauding some of the most powerful people in the world, misdiagnosing serious diseases, and harassing a whistleblower to the point where he killed himself' is an awfully high bar to clear in order for white-collar crime to be taken seriously. They fined Jammie Thomas, like, $800,000 dollars for downloading 30 songs off of napster or whatever. As far as I know, she didn't get to plead 'inability to pay'.
- borski 3y ago
  You moved the goalposts. The example was Theranos. I was responding about Theranos. That was the extent of my comment.
  - mcv 3y ago
    I think GP makes a totally valid point. Big companies only get punished hard when they defraud powerful people, normal people get punished hard for doing something a company doesn't like. It really does seem the harshest punishments are handed out for hurting people/companies more powerful than you. The rich and powerful, including corporations, should be held more accountable. Instead, the law seems to get used mostly to keep people in their place. I still remember how HSBC got fined millions for laundering billions for Mexican drug cartels. Normal people would be doing hard time if they did that. Banks get fined less than the size of the crime.
    - hotsauceror 3y ago
      Let's not forget things like the Sackler family's relentless marketing of addictive opiates. They and their expensive retainers get to have lofty discussions about this and that, whether a particular settlement number is _fair_ or in the 'best interests of the patients' or whatever, how the very idea of litigation is hurting their ability to help those who really need it. Contrast that with the tone taken by our most powerful, about the scourge of illegal immigrants bring the very same chemicals into the country by swimming the Rio Grande. I would not be surprised to hear support for summary executions of every third person in Laredo, TX.
  - hotsauceror 3y ago
    The first sentence was explicitly about Theranos. The whistleblower, defrauding former US Defense Secretaries, etc. That was all them.
jackmott42 3y ago
maybe? will they get out early? when will they go? its been years while she has been having sex living in mansions and drinking fine wine. a guy selling cigarettes on the streets of NYC without a permit would have been choked to death in seconds. (actual thing that happened) seems like this justice imbalance in the USA is something we can get bipartisan support for changing. lets do it yall.
- borski 3y ago
  > maybe? will they get out early? when will they go? I don’t know, but that is a question for behavior. I do believe in rehabilitation being the underlying goal of prison, so I’d be thrilled if they came out of it changed people. > a guy selling cigarettes on the streets of NYC without a permit would have been choked to death in seconds. (actual thing that happened) And that is awful. Never said I was defending that. > seems like this justice imbalance in the USA is something we can get bipartisan support for changing. lets do it yall. If only.
- lupire 3y ago
  Eric Garner wasn't choked to death for committing a crime. He was choked to death because a cop wanted to beat someone up.

cjbgkagh 3y ago

White collar criminals make for the most reliable political donors. I see these fines as a form of sharecropping.

bippihippi1 3y ago

they don't want to rush it and waste the evidence before a full case is ready. if you lose a suit you can't charge them again with the same evidence

sydbarrett74 3y ago

Unfortunately, law enforcement organisations have always existed to protect the interests of the wealthy and powerful. Individual officers and agents may (may!) have empathy for the little person, but their employers have a different agenda.