Charles Woessner shares the story...
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Charles Woessner shares the story of a newspaper that published an incident about the conviction of a wealthy and prominent citizen who had stolen $225,000, and received five years in prison. In another town a poor man was being tried for stealing two dollars. Remembering the wealthy man's sentence, the judge figured proportionately. He began by dividing $225,000 by five or $45,000 a year. Then he divided the sum by 365 which came to $120 per day. By dividing the $120 by twenty-four, it reduced the sentence of the wealthy man to an hour for every five dollars stolen. Again, the poor man had only taken two dollars. To demonstrate that rich and poor should be treated equally, the judge sentenced the poor man to 24 minutes in jail.
