Is There Really Celebrity Justice?

Under the United States Constitution it states, that all men are created equal. Numerous, people believe that all are not equal, and all are not treated the same in today’s so-called “equal” justice system. “There can be no equal justice where the kind of trial a man gets depends on the amount of money he has” (Cole 3) In one source, many people argue that our criminal justice system is based on the premise and promise of equality before the law, but at times predicate on the exploitation of inequality (Cole 5) Some feel no matter the crime, the rich and famous will find a way to settle out of court, pay off witnesses or just erase some or all charges against them. Celebrities get the best lawyers and the best chance at justice that money can buy”. (“Times”)

There are many court cases that lead people to believe the justice system is unfair. Celebrities, in the eyes of the public, receive less time than the average American citizen for the same crime. Furthermore, celebrities also receive more publicity than the average American citizen. Why do celebrities receive more camera time and less punishment time? However, our judicial system claims that all men are equal in the court of law. For example, in the court case of

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There can be little doubt that the criminal justice process is distorted by racism as well as by economic bias. They also claimed that Simpson was a very violent man and had a past of physical abuse to his ex wife.

32 year old movie star, Wynona Ryder, was tried and convicted of shoplifting. However, they received a harsher sentencing. The fact that Martha Stewart is an American icon factored into the slap on the wrists she received as punishment for her actions. The very definition of crime in our society excludes a wide variety of actions at least as dangerous as those included and often worse. Similarly, both the President’s Crime Commission Report and Sutherland and Cressey’s Criminology have index entries for race or racial discrimination but none for class or income of offenders. After fourteen months, the case was finally dropped, and Bryant was free to go back to playing basketball. Simpson also claimed that he and his ex wife had some argument but now was getting back on good terms. (EBSCOHOST) Tyson and Smith were both accused of the same crime, but Smith, was acquitted. Many believed that Bryant was guilty but would go free because, he had money to afford a great team of lawyers; and because Bryant is a super star in the eyes of millions, they would allow him to go free. Celebrities in America are able to get any and everything that money can buy. Nevertheless, it does not pay to look at these as two independent forms of bias.

Approximate Word count = 2480
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)

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