On Felicity’s Sentencing in the Varsity Blues Scandal

As our loyal readers know, we wrote a lot about the major college admissions scandal when the news first broke. You know the one. The one involving the bribing of athletic coaches. The one involving fake test proctors who altered students’ answers on the SAT. But as we informed our readers months ago, we chose to ignore those regular headlines on the pages of our college admissions blog. And why? Because the core objective of our college admissions blog is to debunk misconceptions about the process and to help teach students and their parents how they can beat a totally unfair process the fair and ethical way (though, of course, we save the vast majority of our secret sauce for our clients since we are a business). Writing about unethical actors who felt paying off a test proctor to change test answers was the way to go offers little insight into the college admissions process and so every day when we figure out what we’re going to write about, we ignore those plentiful headlines.

Felicity Huffman Did Wrong

But lots of our readers have written in wondering what we think about Felicity Huffman’s 14-day sentence (along with 250 hours of community service, a $30,000 fine, and a year’s probation). So we figured we’d give our readers what they want…our thoughts on the first sentencing in the Varsity Blues scandal. We think the sentence fits, falling in between the defense’s request for no time behind bars and the prosecutor’s request for a month behind bars. You see, unlike Lori Loughlin, Felicity Huffman fell on her sword after her involvement in this scandal came to light. She didn’t blame others. Sure, she could have worded her statement about being overwhelmed as a parent a bit better (she needed another editor!). But unlike the Full House star, the Desperate Housewives actress chose not to fight the charges and accepted responsibility for her unethical actions.

But Her Sentence Fits the Crime

Felicity Huffman did wrong. She did wrong by her daughters. She did wrong by her daughters’ peers. She did wrong by a whole lot of people. We have no idea what could have possibly led her to pay off someone to change her daughter’s SAT answers. Her actions were abhorrent. No question about it. But to those calling her “slap on the wrist” a miscarriage of justice, she didn’t sexually harass anyone. She didn’t commit rape. She didn’t rob a bank. She didn’t commit murder. She’s been the subject of intense public scrutiny ever since news of the scandal broke in March and her life has likely been miserable ever since. We think the punishment in her singular case fits the crime and it fits how she’s publicly responded since news of her involvement in the scandal broke. Now Lori Loughlin on the other hand, well, we think a much longer sentence is in her future…

Do our readers agree? Do they disagree? Do they feel she should have received a life sentence? Should she have been stoned? The electric chair? Let us know your thoughts on her sentencing by posting a Comment below.