College Scandal: Felicity Huffman's Proposed Sentence Sparks Outrage after Black Mom Got 5 Years

Twitter users are outraged after prosecutors proposed a one-month jail term for Felicity Huffman’s involvement in the college admissions scandal while a black mom spent five years in jail.

Last week, prosecutors recommended a one-month prison sentence as part of the punishment for Huffman’s crime of bribing her daughter’s way into a top-tier college.

COLLEGE ADMISSIONS SCANDAL

The disgraced “Desperate Housewives” alum and fellow actress Lori Loughlin are among 49 people that were busted earlier this year for being involved in the largest college admissions scandal in history.

According to MadameNoire, Huffman, who pleaded guilty on May 13, paid $15,000 to have a proctor change the answers on her daughter Sophia’s SAT exam and disguised the bribe as a charity donation.

SPOTLIGHT ON JUSTICE

Following news that Huffman may be spending one month in prison for her actions, Twitter users are highlighting the blatant prejudice of the justice system with the case of Tanya McDowell, a black woman who spent five years in jail for sending her young son to school.

WHAT THE BLACK MOTHER DID

McDowell was homeless and living in her van in Bridgeport, Connecticut, explained legal expert and “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin. So her five-year-old son could attend kindergarten, McDowell reportedly put down an address in Norwalk. She was subsequently accused of “stealing an education” and convicted of larceny.

ANOTHER BLACK MOM WHO WENT TO JAIL

Sadly, McDowell is not the only black woman that has been unfairly treated in light of Huffman’s proposed sentence.

Another mom, Kelley Williams-Bolar, served nine days in jail in 2011 for using her father’s address so her kids could enroll in a better school district than the one in their Akron, Ohio neighborhood.

SOCIAL MEDIA REACTIONS

The heartbreaking disparity in the dispensation of justice for these cases is making people question the system.

“White privilege at work,” an outraged Twitter user wrote. “Felicity Huffman gets only a month in jail. Black mothers wanting better for their children get a decade.”

Another tweeted:

“This lady is crying about a month sentence when Tanya McDowell a black homeless mother lied about her address so her son could attend a better school. She got sentenced to 5 years!”

REACTIONS FROM TV

The ladies of “The View” also weighed in on the topic during a recent episode and called for the presiding judge in Huffman’s case to “send a message to the community that” her actions are “not right.”

Co-host Meghan McCain added:

“They’re the poster children for what everyone hates about white privilege and she [Huffman] deserves to go to jail for a long period of time; for over a month.”

HUFFMAN DOESN'T WANT JAIL AT ALL

Meanwhile, Huffman, through her attorneys, asked the judge to give her one year of probation and community service instead of the one-month jail sentence.

Besides getting 27 people, including her husband Williams H. Macy, to write letters of support to the judge on her behalf, Huffman penned a lengthy piece, claiming it was her “desperation to be a good mother” that led her to pay a bribe.

LETTER TO THE JUDGE

“In my desperation to be a good mother, I talked myself into believing that all I was doing was giving my daughter a fair shot,” she wrote to the judge, adding:

“I see the irony in that statement now because what I have done is the opposite of fair. I have broken the law, deceived the educational community, betrayed my daughter, and failed my family.”

Huffman’s sentencing has been set for Friday, September 13.