The actress Felicity Huffman has been sentenced to 14 days in jail after admitting to and being found guilty of paying $15,000 to boost her daughter's test scores.

Huffman, who is best known for her role in Desperate Housewives, was charged and sentenced on Friday, where she must also pay a $30,000 fine as well as doing community service.

Prosecutors have said that the sentencing was done so in the hope of deterring others from attempting to use bribes in order to advance their lives.

In the context of this case, neither probation nor home confinement would constitute meaningful punishment or deter others from committing similar crimes.

While this may sound like a fair and reasonable punishment, the sentencing has received a backlash with some pointing out the 'white privilege' that appears to be in effect.

On Twitter, users are using cases where black men and women were given much longer and harsher sentences for crimes that could be deemed as lesser offences.

One of these examples is Tanya McDowell who was given 5 years for enrolling her son in a school outside her listed district.

There is also Crystal Mason who is serving five years in prison for casting a provisional ballot in the 2016 presidential election, while she was on a supervised release for tax fraud.

Earlier this year Alvin Kennard was given an astonishing 36-year-sentence for stealing just $50 from a bakery in Alabama.

Incidentally, the aforementioned Mason, who is currently out of prison on an appeal bond, has responded to Huffman's sentencing and the comparisons that are being made to her.

In a statement she said:

I don’t wish this for anyone, but a sentence to 14 days for actual serious fraud just shows how unfair my sentence is.

I’m hopeful the Justices will see that under the law, I shouldn’t have been convicted in the first place.

HT Someecards

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