Do celebrities get away with more crime?
A topic of major controversy today is that celebrities have a legal leeway in comparison to average people when it comes to prosecution. The problem is greatly concerning because equal punishment for like crimes shouldn't be based on a person's social status. A supporting factor of this would be Lindsay Lohan getting caught driving while intoxicated and being put on probation rather than getting jail time. This might explain why people find this an issue. Did Lindsay get off easy or did she get what she deserved? Which leads to the question, do celebrities actually get away with more? In his article "Celebs Get the Easy Way Out", Richard Anderson supports the yes to this question by talking about…show more content… They state that celebrities are, in fact, treated fairly by the judicial system and the police and are punished by serving their time as called.
While I do believe Mr. Anderson has a very strong argument, the authors of "Celebrities Who Commit Drug Related Offenses Should Be Punished More Harshly than Non-Celebrities" do as well. I have found out that Anderson also brings up more celebrities and their cases as another argument for the yes side. Both the yes and no sides to this argument are heavily weighted with great arguments and points which rebuttal each other really well. Leaving it at that, it is tough for me to decide who to agree with.
Later on in “Celebs Get the Easy Way Out,” Richard gives another good argument. He brings up Charlie Sheen and how he was put on house arrest instead of being sent to prison. Yet the authors of “Celebrities Who Commit Drug Related Offenses Should Be Punished More Harshly Than Non-Celebrities” refute by saying Sheen was rightfully charged with what he deserved because our judicial system does not differ due to ones place in society, meaning that it doesn’t matter if the person is well known or not, they will be fairly punished based on their…show more content… This statement, as it could be true, does not sound full proof. For if the president of the United States was to get caught with an illegal substance, I don’t think he’d serve time in jail, but instead get sentenced to a minor punishment.
In “Celebrities Who Commit Drug Related Offenses Should Be Punish More Harshly than Non-Celebrities,” the authors explain that the term “celebrity” is merely interchangeable, if you will. That celebrity status is not based on if someone has played in a movie, but by the amount of friends they have, meaning that a popular kid in high school has just as much potential influencing someone than an A-list celebrity does; putting the A-list in a bad place because they are more eminent and get more flack about their wrong doings because they are put in the spotlight ere the public.
I believe this counter argument to be true. After all, if the term celebrity is, truly relative then it broadens the area of topic, bringing others in the argument as well; making it more likely for one to be caught guilty for the