I am referring to my lifetime not the history of the world, or this country. Remember, the ideas of the New World later to become America came from the ideas from the whole world.
The justice system wasn't perfect as I think you're trying to relay, but in the 80s it wasn't perfect because if you were rich, or had celebrity status you got lesser sentences because you could afford better lawyers, or jurors sympathetic because of your socio-economic statute not that it's right. There wasn't big recidivism rates with those people. Now? There's people on the streets with a crime sheet 4 foot-long that are in and out of the jail as much as some people eat breakfast. To frequently murderers are getting light jail sentences, and released from jail. In the 80s our tax dollars went more for protecting its citizens. It doesn't seem like our tax dollars are protecting our citizens at all anymore in fact quite the opposite. Now a criminal that goes to jail will garner more sympathy than his, or her dead victim. I feel sorry kids won't be able to grow up when I did when kids could be kids, and didn't have to worry about getting shot from disinformation they'd hear from the media. That's something else that's deteriorated, or a repeated felon stalking the streets at night at the rates we have today where if you are a woman you'll get your skull bashed in, or raped, and dragged in the bushes just jogging on college campuses. Reid should have gotten what I would have gotten for the same crime.
I apologize, but your subject study per statisical data over the decades has me confused between white collar crime and other crimes.
Let me ask you this...
Today, in the year 2024, do you think its possible for over 12 months to live in US State "A", have a drivers license from US state "B", and have a US license plate on your vehicle from US state "C"?
I honestly don't know the answer the the above question, but I did it and lived it in 2001.
Let me ask you this...
In 2001, do you think if a church member of yours told you they just "moved" into town close by you, you could see EXACLTY what they paid for their home, when it was built and what the tax value was?
I honestly don't know the answer to the above question, but I found all that information in 2024.
The rule of statiscics hit me ironically enough studying Economics and Administrative of Justice in the late 80's.
The question becomes who is presenting the statistics and exacly WHY they are presenting the stats.
The bigger issue is techology and where it is leading us, for better or worse.
Just as I mentioned a person I knew who had money and actually won 250k from the state of NC on his murder trial (he was found not guilty due to the state fabricating evidence to fit their own story of how the "killing" went down) only because he had money and could afford the best defense in the US judicial system could provide, look up the name Yvonne "Missy" Woods (most recent examply of technology having an effect on the judicial system).
What we all tend to forget is that people are people... You have good people who hold to their morals and conivtions in ANY job including law enforcement, and you have bad people who "stray" over time and lose sight of why they got into the job to begin with.
FYI, not certain if it was you or someone else, but the reality is "news" has always sold and made money, and sometimes certain elements are left out of the story to fit the authors's intent selling the news.
Per the topic at hand of Reid driving drunk and ruining a young girls life, exactly how do you think this would have played out in the 1950's? The reality is laws weren't written in the books for "applications" of drunk driving back then per consequences on ones actions because it wasn't a "big deal".
I'm not defending Reid by any means. Personally he should have been locked up way past the minumim sentence handed by the judge for 3 years (later commuted by the governor), but the the reality is I got out out of the "legal system" in the late 80's because I wasn't going down a good path I could enjoy loving what I do making money.
When I was younger in my 20's and 30's, I always thought that men were made of their own decisions, and if they screwed up, it was their own fault. After working with the department of social services as a licnesed foster parent (with the possibilty to adopt) over the years in my 40's, I found out that some kids are really screwed up from day one.
That said, have 5 biological children of your own, raised in the same house with the same moral convictions and rules, and out of those 5 kids, any number could turn out having you scratch your head on how they turned out so bad. Britt Reid by all accounts was raised in the same house by his father and mother, who had 5 children. Another kid died due to drugs. Go figure?
There is an old saying... "Don't judge others" or perhaps better said "Walk a Mile in His Moccasins". Holds true for the 1800's as well as the 2000's IMO.
Way off topic, apologies.
What I do know is when we are all 6' under, we'll have everything figured out....