Intersection. Balance of power

• Author: Liane Jackson
• Pages: 10-11

ABA JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2019

10

edited by

LIANE JACKSON

liane.jackson@americanbar.org

Inter Alia

INTERSECTION

Balance

of Power

BY LIANE JACKSON

Intersection is a col-

umn that explores

issues of race, gen-

der and law across

America’s criminal

and social justice

landscape.

L

ooking back, in many ways

2008 was a remarkable year.

The United States elected

its rst black president; the

global economy plunged into the worst

recession since World War II; and a

prostitution scandal torpedoed New

York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s rising star.

This was long before the #MeToo

movement, and Spitzer wasn’t the only

powerful man involved in a lur id sex

scandal in 20 08.

That year, R&B star R . Kelly and

multimillionaire nancier Jeffrey

Epstein also made news —both over

allegations of sexua l predation of

women and underage girls. Kel ly and

Epstein escaped re al punishment despite

overwhelming evidenc e against them.

Epstein pleaded gui lty to state charge s

for soliciting prostitut ion and served

only 13 months in a Palm Beac h County

jail—most of it on work release. Kel ly

was acquitted of child por nography

charges at his Ch icago trial af ter wit-

nesses refused to te stify.

Fast-forward more than a decade,

and Kelly, Epstein, Harvey Weinstein

and other powerful men now face a

reckoning. The one-two punch of the

#MeToo movement plus dogged inves-

tigative journalism has propelled these

cases into the spotlight. Kelly is facing

federal and state charges that include

racketeering, conspiracy and aggravat-

ed sexual abuse of underage girls in

New York and Chicago. Epstein faces

sex trafcking charges in the Southern

District of New York for what federal

prosecutors call “a yearslong scheme to

sexually abuse underage girls.”

Special treatment

These men allegedly used money,

inuence and intimidation to escape

criminal repercussions or obtain

leniency, and it’s taken years of inves-

tigations and tenacity for a full public

accounting. They aren’t the rst wealthy

men—in politics, nance, the arts—to

have received special treatment because

of who they are, how much money they

have or whom they can buy off. And

they won’t be the last. Despite the rule

of law in this country, it’s axiomatic

that money can often buy freedom.

Money can buy good lawyers, investi-

gators and resources needed to mount a

vigorous defense.

Just ask Alex Acosta, who as U.S.

attorney for the Southern District of

Photo ©Callie Lipkin; Illustration by Elmarie Jara/ABAJournal, medesulda/Getty Images, Inok/iStock/Getty Images Plus, LoudRedCreative/Getty Images