The United States has five percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of all prison inmates. Approximately 60 percent of all those incarcerated are black or Hispanic.

We have all heard or read about wealthy men and women who have received lesser punishment for their crimes; partly because they can afford the best and high priced attorneys. This is not fiction; it is fact.

Take the story of Ethan Couch. In February of 2013, he was stopped by police officers in Fort Worth, Texas. Sitting behind the steering wheel of a truck, Couch reeked of alcohol. He was 15-years-old at the time, and had no driver’s license. Also in the truck was an open bottle of vodka on the backseat floor, and a half-naked girl passed-out in the passenger seat.

He was lectured, but that didn’t stop Couch from acting in a belligerent manner. He was not arrested. He was released to his mother, Tonya, after receiving two citations. Four months later he drove into a group of people helping a stranded motorist; four people died while Couch was driving under the influence.

At his trial, a ‘paid-for’ psychiatrist used an unusual term meant to divert guilt from the young man. The word is ‘affluenza.’ His very wealthy parents had coddled him into believing that he could do anything he wished without repercussions. As a juvenile he was given probation. When a film of him drinking at a party surfaced, the authorities ordered him back to court. Along with his mother, Couch fled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Today he is back in the states.

The Couch family has a record with Texas law enforcement; a record which would have required jail or prison time for the average man or woman. Each time they used their wealth and influence to escape punishment. Violations numbered at least 20 and included speeding tickets, reckless driving, assault, and financial disputes.

Four lives were lost because a spoiled rich kid never received discipline for his actions. If this would have been a poor, young, black man, he would be in jail for the rest of his life.

In last night’s poor excuse for a debate, Republican candidates ostracized President Obama and Hillary Clinton for claiming that our entire judicial system needs reform. Because all seven people on that stage are wealthy, they don’t agree with the facts.

Laws and our court system can no longer have two standards. Minimum sentences must be applied to everyone, equally. Justice is intended to be blind, but for the wealthy that blindfold has slipped to become a mask.

An old cliché says that “money can’t buy happiness;” but it can obviously buy protection from the law.

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

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