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I may be in the extreme minority on this, but I don't think the ultra rich should go to jail when they're convicted of crimes that have nothing to do with harming anyone else.
I think the public would be better served by setting maximum fines of millions upon millions of dollars as punishment, rather than jail time.
What does the public benefit from Paris Hilton doing 45 days in jail?
Wouldn't the people be better off if she were forced to pay $5 million or $10 million in exchange for jail time? Couldn't that money be put to good use at a school, or a pubic park, or at a rehab center somewhere?
Think of all the money that could be generated by monetarily penalizing the rich instead of jailing them. You could have windfall of profits for states like New York and California that could put those funds towards education and road construction or other uses.
I'm sure we'd all like to see the rich get treated the same as everyone else, but it's obvious that the rich are not like us - more than race, or religion, money is what separates most people in society. You can send them to jail, but they'll still be rich and snobby when they get out.
The least you could do would be to take a chunk out of their wallet to benefit society.
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