The Justice System for the Rich and Poor

Robert H. Richards and Ethan Couch illustrate how opportunity bends toward affluent white males. Richards was found guilty of raping his three-year-old daughter, but because of his connection to the DuPont family and its vast fortune, his legal team was able to mount a defense that spared him spending any time in prison.

The judge stated, “The defendant would not fare well in prison,” agreeing with Richards’s attorneys that an inmate of his status is not a good fit for the penitentiary. Similarly, Ethan Couch stole beer and took his parents’ Ford F-350 out for a ride with seven…