John Legend criticizes Felicity Huffman's 14-day prison sentence – Deadline

John Legend, a defender of criminal justice reform, spoke Saturday about a 14-day prison sentence against Felicity Huffman for his role in the university corruption scandal.

A federal judge condemned the Desperate housewives Friday actress, and ordered him to pay a fine of $ 30,000 as well as perform 250 hours of community service.

The two-week sentence caused a stir on social media, making Huffman a hot topic throughout the day. Some said that the star of the Emmy Awards did not deserve to go to jail, but many others insisted that she had not been sufficiently sentenced to a term of imprisonment. jail.

Critics have cited examples of low-income people and people of color who have spent years in prison for offenses such as stealing a loaf of bread. Others have mentioned Connecticut's mother, Tanya McDowell, sentenced in 2012 to five years in jail for registering her son in a school district where he did not live. According to Connecticut PostMcDowell told the court that she was looking for a "better education" for the little boy.

Huffman has proposed a similar explanation for paying $ 15,000 to a repairer so that someone corrects his eldest daughter's answers during a SAT exam.

Social media users have noted the disparities between the sentences handed down by the two mothers, with some claiming that Huffman's 14-day sentence is the result of celebrity privilege and / or white privilege.

The caption addressed the issue today in a series of tweets. Without saying the name of Huffman, the Grammy-winning singer and songwriter suggested that Americans have become "insensitive" to the US prison system.

"I understand why everyone gets angry when the rich X gets a short sentence and the poor guy Y takes a long sentence," he began. "The answer is not for X to get more; it's for them two to get less (or even none !!!). We should not level higher. "

"Americans have become insensitive to the fact that we are locking people up. Prisons and prisons are not the answer to all the problems, but we have come to use them to deal with almost all the problems of society, "he continued.

Legend then mentioned some of the individuals cited as examples of sentencing inequities, including McDowell's case.

"It's crazy, we locked up a woman for 5 years for sending her child to the wrong school district. Anyone involved in this decision should be ashamed of themselves, "he tweeted.

The musician went on to say that nothing gained by locking Huffman for 14 days.

And no one in our country will benefit from the 14-day actress she will serve for cheating on her admission to college. We do not need to lock people up for that kind of thing.

– John Legend (@johnlegend) September 14, 2019