Cameron Douglas Awaits Prison Address

Cameron Douglas has been sentenced to five years behind bars for his drug dealings, but it's unclear where he'll spend that time. According to the Daily News, he may not immediately qualify for the minimum-security prison camp his lawyers requested. The Post adds, "In a desperate letter made public this afternoon, defense lawyers pleaded with Judge Richard Berman to instead ask the Bureau of Prisons that Douglas, 31, be sent to the federal prison at Fort Dix, N.J." This move would allow him to see his long-time shrink and visit with family—but the judge says they lost their chance to make a new location request, which they had ample opportunity to do during sentencing. Currently Douglas awaits his fate in a federal lockup in Manhattan.

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By Jen Carlson in News on April 23, 2010 5:49 PM

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bashmentgirl

This man was facing a minimum of ten years in prison. What happened?!! If a poor person was convicted, it would be a minimum of ten years in med or max security prison. He was selling heroin and meth!!!

ozik

I think I figured out the reasoning behind the disgusting favoritism shown towards celebrities and their children in criminal courts:

The court in this case wasn't thinking about punishment but about reformation and the threat this person poses when the return to society. They have a formula worked out for regular folks, do X get ten years because that's how long society needs to punish AND reform you. However, a rich person has two factors the justify reducing their sentence:

1. A rich guy who committed a crime like the Cameron person sure as hell won't be forced into the same position again. He wasn't dealing out of need, and doesn't gain as much from dealing as a normal criminal. Therefore he needs less reformation time and is almost certainly not going to return to his anti-social behavior.

2. The punishment aspect figures in as well. A poor person has a different subjective idea of time than a rich person. In this case, the judge rather cruelly decided that the criminal had twice as much to live for than a standard drug dealer so reduced the sentence in half. When I say "to live for" I mean subjective pleasure gained in life, I'd argue the judge was being grossly unfair as Cameron's life is easily fifty times better than the average poor dealer. This is why so many famous and rich people get community service for triple homicides - for a privileged person to serve the community is just as bad or even worse than a life sentence.

3. BONUS - Rich person lawyers always help.