Do you believe the 14th Amendment is actually provides equal treatment under the law?

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 20:08:31 -0400

I am currently finishing up my bachelors degree and our discussion for the week was about whether or not the 14th amendment actually provides equal treatment under the law. I said no because individuals who commit similar crimes receive unequal punishments. I used the example of the Brock Turner/Kyle Vo rape cases in which Vo was expelled and received a 6 year prison sentence and 5 years probation for his case which was classified as less egregious to Turner's, yet turner only got 6 month in prison and a 3 year probation term given his status of a wealth white male.

Does the 14th amendment need to be looked over again to ensure individuals are given equal treatment?

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 3 at 2021 8:44 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 20:44:28 -0400

We need justice reform and prison reform and it is long past due.

Response by SFC Casey O'Mally made Nov 3 at 2021 8:58 PM

SFC Casey O'Mally — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 20:58:14 -0400

So you asked one question, but answered a different one.

The question you asked, Does the 14th Amendment provide equal treatment under the law? Yes. It does. The 14th Amendment plays no favorites, it provides equal treatment, and it prevents unequal treatment. The 14th is not the problem.

The question you answered, Do the courts appropriately APPLY the 14th Amendment to ensure everyone ACTUALLY gets equal treatment under the law? No, no they do not. But, again, the problem is not the 14th Amendment. it is the overwhelming majority of people involved in the legal system who ignore it.

Also, remember that different localities (cities, counties, states) have different laws. What is illegal one place may be legal another (see: marijuana). Additionally, they have different emphases and foci. So when looking at equal treatment, we cannot compare crime A in location A with crime A in location B. If a person is thrown in jail for a month for smoking a joint in Alabama, and in Colorado the cop comes up and takes a toke off the joint of a different person, that is not unequal treatement. But if a cop comes up and takes a toke off the joint of person A, then the SAME COP turns around and arrests person B for smoking a joint, THAT is unequal treatment (provided no mitigating circumstances, such as fleeing arrest, assaulting the cop, pulling a knife, etc.)

Your comparison, with two different cases, different judges, different jurisdictions, etc. does not prove unequal treatment. Only by comparing like cases in the same jurisdiction - and preferably with the same principal players - can that case begin to be made.

Response by SFC Ralph E Kelley made Nov 3 at 2021 10:00 PM

SFC Ralph E Kelley — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 22:00:36 -0400

Well first of all Brock Turner was convicted under 3 counts of sexual assault.
Kyle Rittenhouse is charge with 3 counts of Murder.
Regardless of either one's conviction/release status those are two different crimes with different statutes. The evidence and required prison times and not the ssame.
Your argument using the comparison of these two case is not logical and fails the test of the US Legal Jurisprudence. In other words those case are not the same crime so fail in the consideration or estimate of the similarities or dissimilarities between the two accused.
However to answer the question "Do you believe the 14th Amendment is actually provides equal treatment under the law?"
My answer is, "Yes, the 14th amendment does provide equal protection under the Law."
My observation is a perfect legal system will have to deal with imperfect people.

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 3 at 2021 10:12 PM

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 22:12:23 -0400

the Turner case was in CA.
The Vo case was in PA.
And while CA judges mostly seem to suffer from a sentencing aversion disorder, this one was so egregious that the judge was ousted in a recall vote by 62 to 38 margin.

I don't think you'll see a push for mandatory minimum sentencing across the board, because in cases where it already exists, there is already too much data showing a broad disparity on how these "fair" sentencing laws disproportionately impact the poor and people of color.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 4 at 2021 9:30 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 09:30:43 -0400

Sad to say but money means a lot these days, if you have it and can afford the right attorneys your treatment will be much different than those who cannot.