Do Rich People Get Off Easier When They Break the Law?

Student Opinion - The Learning NetworkStudent Opinion - The Learning Network

Questions about issues in the news for students 13 and older.

Last week a Texas judge decided not to send a teenager from a well-off family to prison after he killed four people while driving drunk. The judge made her ruling after hearing from a psychologist who claimed that the 16-year-old boy suffered from “affluenza,” a term used to describe psychological problems that can afflict children of privilege. While it is not clear if the psychologist’s testimony influenced the judge, the ruling has set off public outrage.

Do rich people get off easier when they break the law?

In “Teenager’s Sentence in Fatal Drunken-Driving Case Stirs ‘Affluenza’ Debate,” Manny Fernandez and John Schwartz write about the judge’s verdict and the public outcry that has followed.





Students: Read the entire article, then tell us …

  • Do rich people get off easier when they break the law? Why do you think that way?
  • Do you believe our criminal justice system treats rich and poor people equally, or is there a double standard depending on how much money a defendant has? Explain.
  • How might it be easier for people with money to navigate the criminal justice system than for people without?
  • Do you think “affluenza” is a real problem? Should a judge take it into account when making decisions about sentencing?


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How about “Do Rich People Get Off More Easily When They Break the Law?”

An adverb is called for there.

15,322 signatures now on the petition on Change DOT Org to Gov. Perry: Take Judge Jean Boyd Off The Bench.
1,446 sigs on the petition to Gov. Perry: Overturn the ruling in the case of Ethan Couch.

I honestly think rich people get off easier in some cases. Not just the rich but also celebrities. I think its mainly because of the money and because of the staus of certain people. Because I have seeen videos of celebrities not getting in trouble with the police because the police realized who the person was or the status of that person. I’m not saying they get away with it all the time but often I believe do.

i do bileve that rich people get off easier because they’re rich and most of them are popular and are high demand to the public they get off easier compared to a poor person no one knows

Well, not in all cases, but in some, I do believe that wealthier people are let off the hook easier than others. In this case, I think that the boy should have been treated just like anyone else would have been had they killed four people. I, personally, don’t believe in this “psycological probem” because I don’t believe that there’s a psycological problem that affects rich people.

I do believe that rich people get off easier when they break the law because they have the finances to get out of trouble.

yes i believe that rich people gets off easier when they brake the law.

Yes rich people get off way easier if they get in trouble. If you have money, you can buy your way out of trouble. I personaly think its unfair.

Yes. They get off easier just for the simple fact that they’re rich and have money to take off the case.

i think that famous people do get off easier when they break the law because there was a story of how a football player was accused for rape but never really got charged for it, and still won a trophie.

Yes they do. More money equals better lawyers. Better lawyers equal free ride.

Rich people definitely get off easier when they break the law. Rich people are allowed to make deals to buy their way out of trouble. People with that much money often already have loop holes put in place for themselves. Clearly our government thinks the safety and equality among all citizens is worth throwing away for money.

Yes,in my opinion, rich people do get off easily when they break the law. They have money to hire top lawyers,they have connections because of their money,and they have MONEY!!!

Oh Lordie! Of course they get away with the law. Money make the world go round. If you can pay your bail when you go to jail because you wanted to do something stupid, you can almost do about anything. It’s sad but true.

Yes, they do. Anyone who has money or power in this day of age, and in any have the mindset that they are above the law and can do as they wish with no need for consequences. I find this completely ridiculous. football p raped a girl, and because he was a star football player and his uncle was some senator, he got out of it. This is something that needs to change. Equality is supposedly the foundation of this country but that has thoroughly been disproved many times by the powerful, rich, and mainly white male citizens of this society. As long as the one being charged with criminal actions has money, it can easily change in their favor. MOney is power, and that is something that needs to change. The judge whose ruling over this case needs to take a look at what he’s doing to this society, by proving once again that this stupid kid who was raised on money is above the law and he was taught that he was. If this had happened to a poor, possibly hispanic or black male the whole situation would’ve been different and i can assure you that the kid would be in jail for even a longer amount of time. BUt this ignorant child is getting a slap on the wrist for murdering people. Ridiculous.

yes rich people get off easy and it unfair,i alway knew rich people get off easy. but what do you expect from rich people


Yes I do believe that in most cases rich people do get off a lot easier when the break a law vs a poor person breaking the law. I think this way because they are rich and a lot of people try to keep the rich people rich and keep the poor people poor just because they have money like that.

The rich are different from you and me. – The Great Gatsby. They make and abide by their own rules and the justice system serves them well and are in turn well rewarded by their paymasters. It’s a privileged club, members only. Kash is king. The wealthy are immune, for the most part, to blind justice. And it’s not just in America. Affluenza is really just another psychobabble term for spoiled, indifferent and hubris. It’s been around a long time.

If Affluenza played any role in the death of 4 innocent people, then what are lawmakers doing to insure public safety against other rich kids driving drunk and endangering the public? Perhaps we need means test to determine whether the rich kids consider the safety of others as a concern. If they fail to consider the well-being of their fellow man then they should e denied the privilege of driving.

Yes. Wealthy people will tend to have a better chance at not being convicted as they have the ability to get better lawyer, as previously mention, and the also have a status quo to stand behind. Rich people also tend to have better connections and growing up in well-off families is extremely influential.
It is unfortunate that there is this difference, because even- going all the way back begining of this country- when Thomas Jefferson wrote “…all men are created equal…” the idea of equality existed. Really, we will never have true equality and that’s okay, however the punishment should fit the crime. If a person is underage drinking and kills people, the drunk/killer should received their punishment and realize their punishment fit their actions.
I’d also like to send out my regards to the families who are suffering through this traumatic time. Stick in there and happy holidays to everyone!

I think rich people should be in prison because just cuz they are rich does not mean that they are not giltiy.

I do not think affluenza is a real problem. I think this, because if you have too much money and do not know what privileges you do and don’t have, that isn’t a psychological problem it is just being uneducated because of your wealth. Also, I think that the doctor who created affluenza was paid a lot of money by the teens of wealthy families to create that psychological problem. I do not think a judge should take this affluenza problem into account when making decisions about sentencing. It should not matter if the victim, or the one being accused has a lot of money or not. It is a matter if they broke the law or not. In addition, a judge should not take that into account, because then it is just giving wealthy people a right to break the laws. It should not matter if he is considered wealthy and didn’t know better. He still did break the laws.

Yes, rich people can get off easily because their kid sometimes are suffering of affluenza.No, I don’t think that criminal system justice treats rich and poor people equally.

To me breaking the law is something important. What I think is that all the people who break the law should go to prison. It doesn’t matter if the person is rich or poor. This teenager should go to jail because he was driving drunk, and he also killed four people. That is something serious, and if he doesn’t go to jail he might do worse things.