{"id":24361,"date":"2019-09-13T23:34:32","date_gmt":"2019-09-14T03:34:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/?p=24361"},"modified":"2019-09-13T23:41:18","modified_gmt":"2019-09-14T03:41:18","slug":"felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/13\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Felicity Huffman and the discretion in our criminal justice system"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2019\/09\/13\/felicity-huffman-sentenced-to-14-days-in-prison-in-nationwide-college-admissions-scandal\/\">&#8220;Felicity Huffman sentenced to 14 days in prison in nationwide college admissions scandal&#8221;<\/a> (<em>Salon<\/em>) provides a good illustration of how much discretion there is for the people who run our criminal justice system:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>The conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, but prosecutors said they recommended a sentence at the &#8220;low end&#8221; of the range \u2014 between four and 10 months \u2014 for the actress. They also recommended a fine of $20,000 and 12 months of supervised release.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In other words, if either the prosecutor or the judge had disliked Ms. Huffman for any reason, she could have been imprisoned for 20 years (longer than a typical murderer).  Or, on the other hand, it might have been no prison\/jail time if everyone showed up to court in a great mood. Or perhaps 14 days or any other number of days between 0 and 7,305.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Felicity Huffman sentenced to 14 days in prison in nationwide college admissions scandal&#8221; (Salon) provides a good illustration of how much discretion there is for the people who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-law"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Felicity Huffman and the discretion in our criminal justice system - Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/13\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Felicity Huffman and the discretion in our criminal justice system - Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&#8220;Felicity Huffman sentenced to 14 days in prison in nationwide college admissions scandal&#8221; (Salon) provides a good illustration of how much discretion there is for the people who [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/13\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-14T03:34:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-09-14T03:41:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"philg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"philg\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/13\\\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/13\\\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"philg\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e\"},\"headline\":\"Felicity Huffman and the discretion in our criminal justice system\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-14T03:34:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-09-14T03:41:18+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/13\\\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":148,\"commentCount\":7,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Law\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/13\\\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/13\\\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/13\\\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\\\/\",\"name\":\"Felicity Huffman and the discretion in our criminal justice system - Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-14T03:34:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-09-14T03:41:18+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/13\\\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/13\\\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/13\\\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Felicity Huffman and the discretion in our criminal justice system\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog\",\"description\":\"A posting every day; an interesting idea every three months...\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e\",\"name\":\"philg\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2047,\"height\":2560,\"caption\":\"philg\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/philip.greenspun.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/philg\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Felicity Huffman and the discretion in our criminal justice system - Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/13\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Felicity Huffman and the discretion in our criminal justice system - Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog","og_description":"&#8220;Felicity Huffman sentenced to 14 days in prison in nationwide college admissions scandal&#8221; (Salon) provides a good illustration of how much discretion there is for the people who [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/13\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\/","og_site_name":"Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog","article_published_time":"2019-09-14T03:34:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-09-14T03:41:18+00:00","author":"philg","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"philg","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/13\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/13\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\/"},"author":{"name":"philg","@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e"},"headline":"Felicity Huffman and the discretion in our criminal justice system","datePublished":"2019-09-14T03:34:32+00:00","dateModified":"2019-09-14T03:41:18+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/13\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\/"},"wordCount":148,"commentCount":7,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e"},"articleSection":["Law"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/13\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/13\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\/","url":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/13\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\/","name":"Felicity Huffman and the discretion in our criminal justice system - Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-09-14T03:34:32+00:00","dateModified":"2019-09-14T03:41:18+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/13\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/13\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/13\/felicity-huffman-and-the-discretion-in-our-criminal-justice-system\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Felicity Huffman and the discretion in our criminal justice system"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/","name":"Philip Greenspun\u2019s Weblog","description":"A posting every day; an interesting idea every three months...","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/448e4e6a0ae9105741a06dcf62cee50e","name":"philg","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg","url":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg","width":2047,"height":2560,"caption":"philg"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20210525-philip-greenspun-sea-turtle-release-scaled.jpg"},"url":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/author\/philg\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paokyZ-6kV","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24361"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24363,"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24361\/revisions\/24363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/philip.greenspun.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}