The Tonya McDowell case is popping up a lot again. Five years for falsifying a residency document so her kid could get in a good school district when she was homeless.
The infinitive is “to plead.” The simple past and past participle is “pleaded.” “Pled” is colloquially used, but is not grammatically correct.
I think the sentence is too light. But according to some no one should serve prison time for non-violent offenses. 
I bet they always leave out the part about the drug sales, pimping out prostitutes and of course the fact that she wasn’t even really homeless:
She didn’t do jail time for “falsifying a residence document” (which was actually a sworn affidavit). She was facing up to 40 years on multiple charges and took a plea.
My 22 year old grad student says “fine, have her serve some prison time,but is this really what we need to be wasting prison space and resources on. Make her pay a lump sum for 4 years of whatever full attendance costs would be to the school she was desperate for her D to get into. Put that # into scholarships for students of need. Her daughter doesn’t get the spot and the university doesn’t benefit except the students who are awarded $”.
Her lawyers have asked for a CA prison “lite” that appears on some Forbes list of “cushiest.”
Just saying: if Forbes is down to ranking cushiest prisons, kinda makes the point of how silly these rankings are, no?
Oh, I never doubted that these rankings are silly.
She’s going to jail not prison
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/jail-vs-prison-difference
@3scoutsmom, that’s interesting. I originally wrote “jail” in my post with the link, but I noticed all the articles said “prison” so I changed it.
CNN wrote, “Actress Felicity Huffman, who was sentenced to 14 days in prison today…”
We really believe first time offenders go to jail? Even for drugs, robbery etc ? I don’t want post all the multiple conviction prior to incarceration articles. However, we all know that’s not the case.
This is a hot subject here on CC. This is a pretty big sentence and fine in the real world. She’s not a public official. She paid a 15k bribe for someone to take a test for her child. Really bad.
But if not for the larger case and her celebrity. I would bet dollars to doughnuts she would have received zero time in jail.
More community service hours and required speaking engagements at high schools and to parents groups for a couple of years would serve our society more broadly.
Jails are usually a term used in state matters, in the county (or city) and are for those waiting for trial or for those sentenced to less than one year. If they are sentenced to more than a year, and there is room, they go to (state) prison. Sentences for state crimes are often 1 year and 1 day so that it is served in a prison and not in the very overcrowded county/city jail. Prisons have many more services (educational programs, AA, health care) because the people are there longer. They are also often far from big cities, or even OOS, and that makes it harder for family or lawyers to visit.
Federal facilities are prisons, and she’s going to one. Never heard a federal facility called a jail. Very minimum security, but it is a prison, even though her sentence is for 14 days. It is more like the Martha Stewart prison, and she too was there less than a year.
I would like to see these people spend time with families with hardships regardless if it’s related to college. Maybe they can use what influence they have left to do some good. Instead of LL kids floating around on a yacht maybe they should spend some real time in various homeless shelters. Let them use their social media presence to help these people.
I also hope that some of the money collected goes to some fund to help kids afford college.
In other words I just hope some good comes out of this.
Would you really want someone doing community service forced to help your child get into college, to have someone who cheated to get her own kid a better score on the SAT telling your child “Now students, you have to work really hard and get a good score so you can go to a good college (because your parents are too poor to bribe you way in)”
Yeah, I don’t want Felicity Huffman counseling my kids. She can pick up trash like the rest of the community service felons. Community service is a punishment, not meant to reform the felon; the community shouldn’t be punished along with the one performing the service.
Probably a closer analogy than the Tanya McDowell case is the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal. A dozen teachers and administrators got ~5 years in prison each for facilitating cheating on a Georgia exam. A bunch of other people took plea deals. That should be looming large in the remaining parent’s minds.
It’s a fine, not restitution. It goes to the United States of America.
Considering the *Forbes/i target readership, it would not be surprising if some of the readers get caught in serious financial or other white collar crimes, so that they or their lawyers may be shopping for less severe prisons.
Lol, ucb.
At least in California, county jails are mainly for those convicted of misdemeanors punishable by a year or less, while state prisons are mainly for those convicted of felonies punishable by more than a year. County jails are also used to hold those awaiting trial who have not been released on bail (there is currently controversy over cash bail versus risk-assessment bail).
@ucbalumnus are you saying capitalist are more likely to be criminals?? I thought most of those caught up in this scandal were socialists?
@twoinanddone
Good points. Felicia Huffman picking up trash. Now that will be the cover story on People Magazine and the like.
LOL.