3 ms·

While I agree that the force of the justice system heavily targets the non-rich, I did see a former U.S. president on trial for fraud yesterday.

connicpu 3y ago
The rich are only held accountable when they screw over other rich people/other larger entities (like banks). Occasionally when a company engages in exceptionally egregious conduct against average people they can get a larger slap on the wrist via a class action suit, but it seems like those are becoming more rare, especially since anti-class action clauses are standard practice in contracts.
moolcool 3y ago
I'd consider that an exception that proves the rule
- ben_w 3y ago
  You shouldn't consider it the exception. The rich are usually not so narcissistic they will only let sycophants work for them, so they dot their i's and cross their t's correctly. There's a lot of room for being sneaky in ways most of us disapprove of before it crosses into criminal. However, we've also had Bernie Madoff and… wow, this is a long list of American politicians convicted of fraud: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_politicians_convicted_of_fraud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_politicians_... I've only noticed four overlap on the subcategory of mail and wire fraud, too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Politicians_convicted_of_mail_and_wire_fraud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Politicians_convicted... And at the time of writing, this list is disjoint also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Politicians_convicted_of_honest_services_fraud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Politicians_convicted... (Though looking at the details, that isn't what I would've expected from the description "American politicians convicted of" as a Canadian is included; technically yes, and I won't speak either way as to if I think you should count that).
  - uberman 3y ago
    How many rich people went to jail for Enron, how many for the savings and loan crisis? How can anyone go to jail for drugs when none of the Sacklers have?
    - ben_w 3y ago
      Enron is a terrible example given they did have a trial and even multiple convictions, just that some were undone on technicalities — including in one case "dying of a heart attack before exhausting all appeals".

connicpu 3y ago

The rich are only held accountable when they screw over other rich people/other larger entities (like banks). Occasionally when a company engages in exceptionally egregious conduct against average people they can get a larger slap on the wrist via a class action suit, but it seems like those are becoming more rare, especially since anti-class action clauses are standard practice in contracts.

moolcool 3y ago

I'd consider that an exception that proves the rule

ben_w 3y ago
You shouldn't consider it the exception. The rich are usually not so narcissistic they will only let sycophants work for them, so they dot their i's and cross their t's correctly. There's a lot of room for being sneaky in ways most of us disapprove of before it crosses into criminal. However, we've also had Bernie Madoff and… wow, this is a long list of American politicians convicted of fraud: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_politicians_convicted_of_fraud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_politicians_... I've only noticed four overlap on the subcategory of mail and wire fraud, too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Politicians_convicted_of_mail_and_wire_fraud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Politicians_convicted... And at the time of writing, this list is disjoint also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Politicians_convicted_of_honest_services_fraud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Politicians_convicted... (Though looking at the details, that isn't what I would've expected from the description "American politicians convicted of" as a Canadian is included; technically yes, and I won't speak either way as to if I think you should count that).
- uberman 3y ago
  How many rich people went to jail for Enron, how many for the savings and loan crisis? How can anyone go to jail for drugs when none of the Sacklers have?
  - ben_w 3y ago
    Enron is a terrible example given they did have a trial and even multiple convictions, just that some were undone on technicalities — including in one case "dying of a heart attack before exhausting all appeals".