| Hillary Transue was a good student with a clean | | | | Consider the recent cast of villains. There's Allen |
| record, so she never imagined she'd hear a judge | | | | Stanford (the Texas billionaire who allegedly crafted |
| sentence her to three months in juvenile detention. | | | | his own Ponzi scheme), Enron's Ken Lay, former |
| What heinous act did this young Bonnie Parker do to | | | | senator Ted Stevens, lobbyist Jack Abramoff and |
| invoke the court's wrath? The 15-year-old merely | | | | former governor Rod Blagojevich. Even with |
| spoofed her assistant principal on MySpace. (If Skinner | | | | something as tragic as Hurricane Katrina, there were |
| only knew it could be that easy to lock up Bart | | | | countless dirt bags juicing FEMA with fake charges |
| Simpson.) | | | | and pocketing money that was raised for victims. |
| Tragically, this is not an isolated incident. In this particular | | | | For every white-collar crime, there are also ethically |
| Pennsylvania county, a 14-year-old got nine months for | | | | gray acts that technically don't break any laws. Richard |
| lifting change from unlocked cars and a 13-year-old got | | | | Fuld helped drive Lehman Brothers into the ground as |
| put away for trespassing in an empty building. What | | | | he raked in nearly $500,000,000. While that's merely a |
| did all these delinquents have in common? Judges | | | | moral crime, selling his $14 million house to his wife for |
| Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella sentenced them | | | | $100 might be something more. There's also the military |
| and about 5,000 other teens in a scam involving cash | | | | analysts on cable news networks that supported the |
| for kids. | | | | war without disclosing they're lobbyists for contractors |
| The scheme dates back to 2002, when Conahan | | | | that ultimately made out like bandits. Sadly, the spotlight |
| exercised his judicial authority to shut down the | | | | has even turned to nonprofit companies. |
| government-run youth facility and use tax dollars to | | | | In a study of nearly 500 nonprofit hospitals, the IRS |
| redirect teens to privately owned detention centers. | | | | discovered that top executives make nearly $500,000 |
| For their efforts, the judges received $2.6 million in | | | | year, while 20 of these so-called nonprofit execs |
| kickbacks. While it's hard to believe that Alberto | | | | make nearly $1.5 million. Gloria King of the United Way |
| Gonzales never tapped these guys for DOJ, it's even | | | | of Central Carolinas rakes in about $1.2 million as the |
| more remarkable how little time the judges will serve. | | | | Chief Executive, and she's just one of eight |
| The total time served by the kids they sentenced | | | | charity-based execs making seven figures. According |
| could add up to centuries, but Conahan and Ciavarella | | | | to Charity Navigator, there are over a hundred others |
| will serve only 87 months in federal prison. Mid Atlantic | | | | making $500,000-plus. |
| Youth Services, who own and operate the centers, | | | | In the late 19th Century, the Gilded Age started during |
| face no punishment at all. | | | | Reconstruction as wealth rocketed to the top with |
| When the government hires Halliburton to build prisons | | | | help from questionable politicians (e.g. Boss Tweed) |
| and spends nearly $50 billion a year on corrections, it's | | | | and financial manipulations. This era, featuring opulent |
| no surprise that America incarcerates the highest | | | | wealth displays by the upper class, eventually led to |
| percentage of its citizens. While these numbers are | | | | the Panic of 1893, when the railroad bubble burst and a |
| ridiculously high, white-collar criminals like these two | | | | credit crisis sunk the country into an economic |
| judges make up just a fraction of the inmates. | | | | depression. It certainly sounds familiar (except that the |
| Many researchers have argued that there's a double | | | | 1890s crisis ironically gave tax-raising Republicans a |
| standard when it comes to white-collar crimes. Socially | | | | landslide victory over the free market Democrats). |
| upward criminals are wealthier and more connected, | | | | Today, America has its own panic. While there is much |
| and they can hire the best lawyers and preemptively | | | | to be done, there's a populist outcry for a level playing |
| influence lawmakers to imploring focus on street | | | | field. America needs to prosecute criminals regardless |
| crimes. That's why a whistleblower like Harry | | | | of their social status and political contributions and |
| Markopolos can spend a decade the SEC to stop | | | | enforce white-collar crimes with the same zeal that |
| Bernie Madoff, and the government acted only after | | | | they tackle blue-collar offenses. Whether it's Ponzi |
| the loss of tens of billions of dollars. Maybe he'd have | | | | schemers or corrupt judges, there needs to be real |
| gotten a quicker response if he reported two guys | | | | enforcement and punishment for financial misdeeds. |
| trying to get married or a 13-year-old file-sharing the | | | | The white collars need to become too afraid to take |
| new Metallica album. | | | | the risks. |
| I am not suggesting that we pardon the people who | | | | America has the honor of being history's great |
| steal our cars or break into our homes, but we should | | | | democracy where all men are created equal. To |
| treat the inside trader who stole $100,000 from | | | | continue fulfilling that promise, we must shake off the |
| shareholders with the same scales of justice as the | | | | shackles that bind Lady Liberty's hands and truly start |
| guy who steals your wallet. | | | | treating all men equally. |