Greetings,

I'm searching for examples of cases, preferably in Canada or the US
although anywhere cases from around the world are acceptable, where it
can be shown that for committing the same crimes, poor people receive
harsher sentances than rich people do.

Any help on this topic would be greatly appreciated! I need this
information yesterday, so a generous tip will be made available to
anyone who answers this question, and does a good job before Tuesday.

Thanks!

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Request for Question Clarification by umiat-ga on 18 May 2003 20:18 PDT

bigcheese-ga

 Would you be interested in references to information like the
following article:

"Myth: The criminal justice system is not biased against the poor."
"Fact: Nearly everyone commits crime -- only the poor are generally
punished for it."
http://www.korpios.org/resurgent/L-CJSpoor.htm

 If you are searching for actual cases, it would require two
perpetrators prosectuted for the same crime, receiving different
sentences due to income. Is that what you are looking for, or are you
searching for a more general answer to the differing sentance given to
perpetrators of crime due to income level?

umiat-ga

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Clarification of Question by bigcheese-ga on 18 May 2003 20:41 PDT

"If you are searching for actual cases, it would require two
perpetrators prosectuted for the same crime, receiving different
sentences due to income."

Yes, that's pretty much what I'm interested in. Although more general
information would be welcome as well, I'm more interested in actual
cases.

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Clarification of Question by bigcheese-ga on 19 May 2003 19:51 PDT

An example of what I'm looking for, except that I need examples where
one person is defended by a legal aid lawyer/public defender while the
other can afford his own lawyers.

"On the same day, Robert Rowbotham, 35, of Toronto, and Michael Waite,
22, of Drayton, Ontario, were sentenced in different Ontario
courtrooms for the crimes of drug trafficking and criminal negligence
causing death. Both charges carried a maximum sentence of life
imprisonment . . . Rowbotham was sentenced to 20 years in a federal
prison for his part in a large marijuana importing drug operation . .
. Waite received a sentence of two years less a day in a provincial
jail after killing four teenagers on a hayride. He was driving down
the wrong side of a road with only his foglights on in the dark, after
drinking seven bottles of beer."

My guess is it can be shown that rich persons rarely get longer
sentences for a similar crime. No two crimes are exactly the same, and
the poor person is more likely to have previous convictions. Going to
prison is only a moderate life style reduction for a typical poor
person, but it is typically major trauma for a rich person, so we
could argue that the deterrent effect is greater for the rich person
even if he is out of prison in half the time.   Neil

For related issues affecting sentences with respect to race, class,
and gender, see the answer:

http://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=170062

hlabadie-ga