Jail is for poor people

As a card-carrying member of the vast left-wing media conspiracy, I like to think that my discrimination sensors are pretty finely tuned. I don't much care for The Man in any of his various forms, and when he presses his already sizable advantage by knocking around people who can't resist him, it makes me unreasonably angry. Which is actually kind of funny, when you consider the fact that I'm a white American who hasn't missed a meal in his life.

So in the face of recent events, I can't help but raise my voice. I'm referring, of course, to the Dec. 30 accident on the 405 freeway in Los Angeles which a woman died after her Toyota was struck by a speeding Acura.

According to TMZ.com, the crash occurred after a woman traveling 65 mph in a 2007 Land Rover failed to notice that traffic was slowing down in front of her. (One would think that a responsible driver would expect traffic on the 405 at 10:30 a.m., but whatever.) She hit the victim's car, a 2005 Toyota, which skidded into a 1989 Toyota. The 2005 Toyota then slid sideways and hit the center divider. Then, as the 2005 Toyota came to a halt, it was struck by a 1988 Acura. The Toyota driver, 38-year-old Los Angeles resident Awatef Aboudihaj, suffered major injuries and died on New Year's Eve. She was married with one child. The California Highway Patrol has since recommended that the driver of the Land Rover be charged with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, and the victim's family has filed a wrongful death suit.

When the facts are laid out like a police report, it seems pretty clear what happened. Someone committed a serious act of negligence and caused the death of one person and the destruction of several vehicles. Even the CHP, which generally tries not to involve itself in media circuses, felt the mistake was bad enough to warrant a public statement. Sounds like the jackass is about to have a rough week.

Oh, but wait. The jackass happens to be former R&B star Brandy, who happens to be pretty, talented and a minority — a defense lawyer's dream. Civil rights groups and left-leaning media folks fell all over each other in a race to play the discrimination card first.

A group called Project Islamic HOPE crossed the finish line first, declaring that the CHP "is unfairly targeting (Brandy) for prosecution because of her celebrity," aol.com reported. On its Web site, Rolling Stone magazine (which, for comparison, once called Justin Timberlake "an edgy performer") wrote, "According to Wikipedia (which, as we all know, would never lie), 1.2 million people are killed worldwide in car accidents every year. Fatal car accidents are tragic but not uncommon, and few result in multi-million dollar civil suits against the culpable party. Is Brandy being victimized because she's wealthy and famous?"

Here's my problem with all of this: I think we can all agree that some people get a raw deal from American corrections systems. Further, I think we can agree that there is a certain amount of racism and classism inherent in those systems. But Brandy? Everyone is expressing their outrage at the status quo by saving Brandy from being punished for something that she actually did? Does that even count as activism?

There are tons of useful ways to stick it to The Man, such as helping poor immigrants get health care or facing down a large corporation in court. But tossing around thinly veiled accusations of racism to protect a wealthy celebrity from the consequences of her own actions is not one of them. The manslaughter charge, which may not even be filed, carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a paltry $1,000 fine. Even if she's convicted, there is no way Brandy will ever see the inside of a cell. Her legal team will plead her down to probation and she'll be back behind the wheel in time to drive to her next video shoot.

Meanwhile, the family of Awatef Aboudihaj is still ruined. Discrimination, hell. This is wide-open cowardice. The city of Los Angeles needs to stop worrying about what people will think and just enforce the law. If prosecutors are trying to keep people from accusing them of selective enforcement, letting Brandy walk is the wrong way to do it.

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Some people say that I'm not the same girl. They say that I think I'm in my own world. What makes them think that I have changed? A little dough cannot erase my problems. Me, like mfarley@register-pajaronian.com, I have to try and solve them. Yes, everything is quite the same.