"DuPont heir’s rape case: Too rich for prison?" April 07, 2014
It’s not exactly news that wealthy defendants can buy more lenient justice — exhibit A: Jared Remy — but a shocking case in Delaware underscores how badly askew the nation’s justice system has become.
An heir to the DuPont fortune, Robert H. Richards IV, was sentenced to probation, with no prison time, after he was convicted in 2009 of raping his 3-year-old daughter, a charge that could have landed him in prison for up to 15 years. The sentence only came to light late last month in litigation between Richards and his former wife.
Individual criminal cases sometimes have extenuating circumstances that merit shorter sentences, but the judge, Jan Jurden, offered no such justification in Richards’s case. Rather, she wrote that the defendant “will not fare well” in prison.
Nobody fares well in prison. But protective custody is available for inmates at risk from other prisoners, and Richards had no reported health problems that might have been exacerbated by imprisonment. By Jurden’s reasoning, even the most dangerous predators would remain free.
Part of the blame in this case seems to rest with prosecutors, who agreed to a generous plea bargain for Richards, an unemployed descendant of Irenee du Pont who lives off a trust fund.
The takeaway from both the Richards and Remy cases is that prosecutors and judges must take more seriously their obligation to maintain public confidence in the law. Resisting a two-track justice system has to be part of their jobs.
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Also see: ‘Affluenza’ teen gets no jail for fatal car wreck
The family is paying for pricey rehab in California. I suppose that's puni$hment enough.
I'm tired of Remyniscing, readers. Sorry.
Time for me to see a doctor.
