It's a sad truth of our system of law that the harshest penalties are dealt out to the poor. The rich can always hire lawyers, raise bail, and appeal to juries and judges; the poor lack both the means and the social finesse to protect themselves from the harshest judgments and sentences. Wealthy corporations often settle cases before the investigation leads to criminal charges in court, paying money without admitting liability to have the criminal investigation stopped.
My idea of accountability is that those in the highest positions of wealth and responsibility owe the highest duty to be law abiding and ethical in all that they do; for if such individuals err, they set a bad example for all of society. In my view, the rich should generally receive the harshest penalties and be denied the ability to buy off the system by negotiating a bargain.
In fact the situation is the opposite, and it's hard to be proud of a system that punishes the poorest and weakest citizens the most harshly.
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