ChatterBank1 min ago
One Law for the Rich?
On Tuesday there was a report about an Business Executive who attacked his wife and avoided a custodial sentence. There is another one today. Hospital Consultant Stuart Brown, threw his wife to the floor and punched her at least 24 times as she lay at his feet.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles /news/news.html?in_article_id=476987&in_page_i d=1770&ct=5
Do you think that these two cases, though similar, are just isolated incidents?
or
Do you believe that if you are educated and wealthy, then you will get a more lenient sentence from a judge of similar social standing?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles /news/news.html?in_article_id=476987&in_page_i d=1770&ct=5
Do you think that these two cases, though similar, are just isolated incidents?
or
Do you believe that if you are educated and wealthy, then you will get a more lenient sentence from a judge of similar social standing?
Answers
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No, I think (well I know) men from all walks of life get away with battering their wife. Some chav on a council estate beating up his missus doesn't warrant headlines because people perceive it to be normal behaviour.
Wardy made a good point, that more often than not its a third party that alerts the authorities to domestic abuse. People who live in close proximity to each other are generally poorer, who is going to hear the screams of a woman in her semidetached house? Even family rarely interferes with domestic abuse for fear of making it worse for the victim.
Wardy made a good point, that more often than not its a third party that alerts the authorities to domestic abuse. People who live in close proximity to each other are generally poorer, who is going to hear the screams of a woman in her semidetached house? Even family rarely interferes with domestic abuse for fear of making it worse for the victim.
Sorry thats what I meant with getting away with it. I know of blokes who have broken their wives noses and got away with it. I think the getting away with it part is classless too. It just wont appear in the paper that a factory worker broke his wife's ribs and got away with a few hundred quid fine.
Think your reasoning could be a little twisted there Grom's. It wouldn't happen because they're educated and wealthy no. Although they could afford a better brief which might help and is another thread in itself.
It's perception that's at the root of it. If someone is presentable, has the gift of the gab etc... then yes, they will be percieved differently to someone who is percieved as 'chavvy.' It's a cultural snobbery that we're all guilty of in one form or another; inverted snobbery is just as bad.
Whether we try to hide it or not, our perceptions do lead us to treat others differently in everything we do. Whether it's someone up in court or even as simple as a pixel on the net. (Think about it, do you treat all pixels the same or do you have the perception that you might not get along with/find some beyond irritating/class them as stupid? Where does that come from? It's not based in fact. That kind of thinking is applied in all walks of life).
So therefore, if we percieve someone to be 'just like us' then it's all the more horrifying that this person could be guilty of something that we find detestable. Why? Because we see it as a reflection on us. And as a result, whether we like it or not, we treat them differently.
IMHO anyway.
It's perception that's at the root of it. If someone is presentable, has the gift of the gab etc... then yes, they will be percieved differently to someone who is percieved as 'chavvy.' It's a cultural snobbery that we're all guilty of in one form or another; inverted snobbery is just as bad.
Whether we try to hide it or not, our perceptions do lead us to treat others differently in everything we do. Whether it's someone up in court or even as simple as a pixel on the net. (Think about it, do you treat all pixels the same or do you have the perception that you might not get along with/find some beyond irritating/class them as stupid? Where does that come from? It's not based in fact. That kind of thinking is applied in all walks of life).
So therefore, if we percieve someone to be 'just like us' then it's all the more horrifying that this person could be guilty of something that we find detestable. Why? Because we see it as a reflection on us. And as a result, whether we like it or not, we treat them differently.
IMHO anyway.
I didn't say the law didn't have a class bias my dear. In the instance you've cited and many other crimes like it, I don't believe it does and I believe it's a perception thing as I said.
However....
White collar crime. You rip companies of for thoursand/millions of pounds and the effects can be felt widely down the social scale, (think Enron or something like that). You effect hundreds of people from all walks of life, some people commit suicide because they can't survive any longer as a result of what you did. How long do you get sent down for? How long can a company drag this through the court? Does anyone even get sent down?
Most white collar crime is not committed by the working classes. The effects can be devastating. The law is usually an ass.
Class issues do exist in law. You just have pick your crime.
However....
White collar crime. You rip companies of for thoursand/millions of pounds and the effects can be felt widely down the social scale, (think Enron or something like that). You effect hundreds of people from all walks of life, some people commit suicide because they can't survive any longer as a result of what you did. How long do you get sent down for? How long can a company drag this through the court? Does anyone even get sent down?
Most white collar crime is not committed by the working classes. The effects can be devastating. The law is usually an ass.
Class issues do exist in law. You just have pick your crime.
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Society-and-Cul ture/Question448650.html
Saw that ^^^^ and thought of you. (It's not a jokey one)
Saw that ^^^^ and thought of you. (It's not a jokey one)
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