ABC Argument To Sway The Sentencing Judge Essay

You are an attorney asked to represent a businessperson who was one among a

number of defendants in the nationwide admissions prosecution, in which financiers,

lawyers, and celebrities were charged with conspiring to cheat on exams or bribe

coaches in order to get their children into prestigious colleges. More than 50 wealthy

people paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to a man named William Singer, who

supposedly had a way of bribing college coaches to falsify children’s athletic

accomplishments and then request the admissions office to admit these unqualified

students. Your client is in the real estate management business, has no prior criminal

record, and has been cooperating with federal investigators. He has decided to plead

guilty and admit his involvement in the scheme. The prosecution had demanded that

your client serve time in prison to set an example and to deter others who would think of

bribing people to get their kids into college.

Writing Assignment (300 words or more):

Devise an argument to sway the sentencing judge. Think about such issues as whether

it is fair or even ethical to imprison non-dangerous white-collar criminals to set an

example. Should they merely suffer financial penalties? Are there any other

alternatives? What is the purpose of putting someone like your client in prison for a

nonviolent white-collar offense? Is he really a danger to society? Or would it be better to

adopt the suggestion of Billy Ray Valentine (played by Eddie Murphy in the classic 1983

film Trading Places): “You know, it occurs to me that the best way you hurt rich people

is by turning them into poor people”?