Federal judge ponders: Were the wealthy, celebrity parents in the college admission scandal … victim

[mystery-ak]

Federal judge ponders: Were the wealthy, celebrity parents in the college admission scandal … victims?

Ed Morrissey Posted at 4:01 pm on September 11, 2019

Scoff all you want, but maybe Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli were on the right track after all. A recommendation from the US Probation and Pretrial Services has a federal judge questioning who got victimized in the massive college-admissions fraud scheme cooked up by Rick Singer. And if the judge rules against prosecutors, the answer might leave a lot of egg all over some faces at the Department of Justice:



    Prosecutors have said the victims are the universities and testing companies, and that the amount that the parents paid in the fraud should be used as a substitute for the victims’ losses. Parents who paid more in bribes should face harsher penalties, they argue.

    But the US Probation and Pretrial Services, which prepares pre-sentence investigation reports for each defendant, say that the universities and testing companies suffered no monetary harm at all. The price of the parents’ bribes is therefore not relevant to any sentences, the office argued.

    Federal court Judge Indira Talwani heard arguments on this debate in federal court Tuesday. She is expected to make a decision before actress Felicity Huffman’s expected sentencing hearing on Friday.

    If Talwani sides with the probation office’s arguments, the parents implicated in the case — including Huffman and actress Lori Loughlin — could face shorter possible prison sentences or even just probation.

more
https://hotair.com/archives/ed-morrissey/2019/09/11/federal-judge-ponders-real-victims-college-admissions-scandal-rich-parents/

[Slide Rule]

Bu!!shit at its finest.

First we shoot all the lawyers is still in play.

:)

[andy58-in-nh]

Another gift from the previous Administration:

Federal court Judge Indira Talwani
Appointed by Barack Obama
Education: Radcliffe College, Berkeley Law

[OfTheCross]

Another gift from the previous Administration:

Federal court Judge Indira Talwani
Appointed by Barack Obama
Education: Radcliffe College, Berkeley Law

You're denigrating Talwani for what now?

[andy58-in-nh]

You're denigrating Talwani for what now?

I did not denigrate her. I only meant to point out that elitists tend to instinctively side with others of their kind. A judge from a more working-class background would be less apt to favor exculpatory arguments from wealthy defendants. 

[OfTheCross]

I did not denigrate her. I only meant to point out that elitists tend to instinctively side with others of their kind. A judge from a more working-class background would be less apt to favor exculpatory arguments from wealthy defendants.

That was the argument made by the defense. You don't know how much she's favoring it or not, but it is her duty to ponder it.


If she comes back and rules in their favor, then you have a reason to be upset.

[andy58-in-nh]

That was the argument made by the defense. You don't know how much she's favoring it or not, but it is her duty to ponder it.
If she comes back and rules in their favor, then you have a reason to be upset.

I guess we'll see how this plays out. Every now and then, money doesn't get to do all the talking.

[PeteS in CA]

Prosecutors have said the victims are the universities and testing companies, and that the amount that the parents paid in the fraud should be used as a substitute for the victims’ losses.

  !

The true victims are the worthy students who were displaced by these entitled elites' bribes! Are the prosecutors trying to throw this case by making foolish claims?

[verga]

!

The true victims are the worthy students who were displaced by these entitled elites' bribes! Are the prosecutors trying to throw this case by making foolish claims?

QFT, There is an Old saying: You can't cheat an honest man. Laughlin and company were trying to pull a fast one.

[Cyber Liberty]

The true victims are not knowable.  Who are the students who didn't get admission because Loughlin's brat did?  The term is "invisible victims." 

[PeteS in CA]

The true victims are not knowable.  Who are the students who didn't get admission because Loughlin's brat did?  The term is "invisible victims."

Because colleges admit a predetermined number of new students, college admissions is a zero-sum game. For every student admitted whose grades and test scores were not up to the colleges' standards, a potential student whose grades, etc. were did not get the admission they had earned. And, frankly, getting admitted to a college whose demands are over a student's head is likely to do more harm to the student than good.