I am going to copy and paste a comment made by another user on another local news site which I thought was a great addition:

"Our system is too likely to jail when other options might work. They hurt the commons by cheating on it to place their daughter in a school, but they could fix that by, say, being made to fund say, 4 scholarships for needy students plus community service. Instead, they'll go to jail, possibly a death sentence in Pandemic times w/o doing the commons much good."

For a first-world country, and indeed the wealthiest in the world, the U.S. does a pretty poor job of making college affordable for its students. There are many who, despite having the intellectual capacity to go to college, can't make it work financially, so to speak. Even living in Atherton, there are plenty of low-income communities nearby, like some in Redwood City, that contain kids whose lives would be absolutely transformed by getting their educations financed by these people who tried to exploit the system, one which was arguably already rigged in their favor. I think forcing these parents to pay a poorer kid's college education a couple times would be a much better punishment.

> "Our system is too likely to jail when other options might work."

This is important because so many of our wealthy are sentenced to hard prison time? Yes, our wealthy need more ways to buy their way out of prison for unethical and illegal behavior.

Personal Responsibility?

Hey R:

So, what you (of someone else you thought had a good idea) is that "get caught = pay a fine". Nice. Woman now wants to serve sentence AT HOME IN HER ATHER TON ESTATE!!!.

What law can I quickly break where I can do this? happy to pay a fine and get to spend the next 6-9 months in an acre plus compound with putting green and plenty of space for my kids to play ball, run around.

You know there is a legal way to buy your kids into college, sure it is a bit more expensive, but it is considered legal even at Harvard. But a building, provide a huge endowment/scholarship fund, etc.? But now, you had to buy your clearly not so bright kids multiple fraudulent tests (why the need for so many???) and a $400,000 tennis placement bribe.

I think she should immediately have to serve her sentence. She is a convicted fellon.

@R

The justice system should not be for the purpose of benefiting the commons. It's an attractive idea with a lot of downsides. Society would have a strong incentive to seek financial punishment, not justice. It leads to a conflict of interest. Prosecutors would be measured on how much revenue they bring into the office, not whether they meted out justice equally and fairly. The rich will get out of jail time and the less well-off can't buy their way out of jail.

It also eliminates the deterrence value of punishment. If the cost of getting caught is to pay for four scholarships, you would see many rich people who can afford that cost help their children lie on their applications.

The financial option is a non-starter when it comes to violent crimes.

With respect to college, community college is extremely affordable in this country. In fact, California provides the first two years free.

College is expensive at US research universities because they are in the business of major research and scholarship. Teaching is a side gig for them. I know this to be a fact because their best paid professors do not spend a lot of time teaching. The people that spend most of their time teaching and working with students are the junior professors, the adjuncts, and grad students, the lower paid among the faculty. Promotions are awarded to faculty that receive peer recognition, such as Nobel prizes. No faculty is ever given tenure because undergraduates love their class.

To make research universities affordable, separate the research part of their mission....just like community colleges.

Am I the only one who finds the use of the descriptor "the commons" offensive? Ugggghhh. Says it all.

“ Am I the only one who finds the use of the descriptor "the commons" offensive?

I hope so.

Read this: Web Link

"With respect to college, community college is extremely affordable in this country. In fact, California provides the first two years free."

What? No, it doesn't.

Why was it so easy for all of these parents to cheat? Has our society decayed so much that the wealthiest have no sense of right and wrong? Is money, in vast quantities, as poisonous to the soul as Covid-19 is to the body? If so, then we need to highly tax those at the top. For their own good, as well as ours.

The amount of time spent in jail will provided solitude for reflection of what she did and one can not buy their kids an education.

"Why was it so easy for all of these parents to cheat?"

Because they are wealthy.

"Has our society decayed so much that the wealthiest have no sense of right and wrong?"

Yes.