Posted by Jim Lindgren:
Martha Stewart and the Runaway Bride.--
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2005_05_01-2005_05_07.shtml#1115361698
I have been struck by the difference in treatment accorded [1]the
runaway bride, Jennifer Wilbanks, and Martha Stewart. Stewart spent
five months for lying to federal investigators about getting and
acting on a stock tip that [2]most law professors that I've read
(including Professor Bainbridge) believe was legal to get and act on.
Contrast that with Wilbanks (courtesy of the [3]NY Times):
Mr. Porter [Gwinnett County, GA district attorney] said Monday that
his office could file charges of making a false statement to law
enforcement, a felony, and falsely reporting a crime, a
misdemeanor. The charges carry penalties of up to five years in
jail for the felony and one year for the misdemeanor, and maximum
fines of $10,000 and $5,000, respectively. He said it could take
months to decide whether to file them.
Though Ms. Wilbanks at first told the police and F.B.I. agents in
Albuquerque that a Hispanic man and a white woman had kidnapped her
in a blue van and released her, the authorities there have said no
charges are planned. A spokesman for the Federal Bureau of
Investigation in Albuquerque said the cost of a federal prosecution
was probably not worth it because she had told them the truth
within about an hour.
"We're not like the Duluth police department in Georgia," the
spokesman, Bill Elwell, said, "sending people out looking for her
for days."
Mr. Porter said Ms. Wilbanks also called the Duluth police directly
on Saturday to spin her kidnapping tale.
I remember one of my criminal law students suggesting that perhaps
Martha Stewart got off easy because she was rich. I said that she was
treated pretty seriously for a conviction for a first offense of lying
to a federal officer. I wonder how many people lie to the police about
whether they were speeding. Would they anticipate a 5-month jail term
for a first offense (and speeding is actually a violation of law,
unlike what Stewart lied about doing).
There are several respects in which Wilbanks' behavior is worse than
Stewart's and two respects in which it is less bad--Wilbanks recanted
fairly quickly and she was probably less in control of her emotions.
I thought that the juxtaposition was interesting.
References
Visible links
1. http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/11570861.htm
2. http://www.professorbainbridge.com/2003/11/the_insider_tra.html
3. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/03/national/03bride.html
Hidden links:
4. http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/politics/11570861.htm
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