Wednesday, April 10, 2019

The College Admissions Scam - All Cheating Scandals Are Not Equal

Post 51

This college admissions scam continues to get a lot of attention now that there are court proceedings taking place. I think anybody that watches the news even a little bit knows the basic details behind this scam. A bunch of rich people, many of them celebrities, conspired with this guy named William "Rick" Singer in an alleged scheme to get their kids admitted into top universities. Part of the scheme consisted of rigging college entrance exams, the SAT and ACT, by having an accomplished test taker either take the entrance exams for the kids or correct the answers on their exams. Another part of the scheme consisted of bribing athletic officials at elite universities to fraudulently recruit kids of wealthy parents into their sports programs as top level athletes.

Now that the criminal cases against many of the parents involved in this scandal are being litigated in court, including the cases against actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, many of the parents have opted to make deals with prosecutors. Huffman is one of the parents that have made a deal after admitting guilt, whereas, Loughlin has not. Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer J. Mossimo Giannulli, are charged with paying Rick Singer $400,000 to get their daughters admitted to USC as top level athletes in one of the recruiting scams uncovered by the F.B.I. Huffman is accused of paying an accomplice of Singer, Mark Riddell, $15,000 to correct her daughter's answers on the SAT. Huffman is also one of the parents involved in this scandal that have expressed remorse and shame for their actions while Loughlin and other parents have not.

It is clear that the allegations against these parents, Rick Singer, and his accomplice Mark Riddell are very serious and deserves the attention they are getting from the F.B.I. and federal prosecutors. It is understandable that parents that follow the rules when it comes to the college admissions process are angry and upset with parents who use their wealth and celebrity status to undermine the college admissions process by cheating as is alleged here. However, we should not lose sight of the fact that wealth and celebrity have always had its privileges. For sure, I believe these parents should be held accountable if they are found to be guilty of the charges alleged in this scam. However, I wonder if this scandal would be getting the same attention from the media if there were no celebrity defendants involved.

What bothers me, however, is that the F.B.I. and the Department of Justice was quick to take action in this cheating scandal involving members of the public, while at the same time ignoring cheating scandals by government officials that undermine our institutions of government. One such cheating scandal I'm referring to is the subject of this blog that I started for the purpose of exposing it to the public. The scandal involve San Jose city officials, my attorney, and officials with the US District Court in San Jose and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. It involves San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and members of the San Jose City Council, City Attorney Richard Doyle, and several judges and court officials in the US District Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Just as the crimes alleged against Rick Singer, Mark Riddell, and the parents in the college admissions scam, the crimes committed by San Jose city officials, my attorney, and the federal court officials involve fraud, creating false documents, conducting a fake proceeding, misrepresentations, bribery and many other public corruption crimes all relating to cheating and dishonesty. After making several complaints with the F.B.I. and Department of Justice accompanied by indisputable evidence, no investigation or prosecution of these government officials have occurred.

Undermining the college admissions process is serious. But undermining the judicial process is far more egregious because it is a direct attack on an institution of our government. The F.B.I. and federal prosecutors have been aggressive in their pursuit of justice in the college admissions scam while engaging in a massive cover-up of the cheating scandal involving San Jose city officials and officials with the US District Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In the eyes of the F.B.I. and the Department of Justice, all cheating scandals are not equal. Some cheaters, such as the San Jose city officials and officials with the federal courts, get special treatment. Many details of the cheating scandal involving San Jose city officials and the courts can be found in my prior posts. However, post #2 on August 23, 2015 is a must read.