“Are they doing that for their children or are they doing it for their own status?”

U.S. Federal District Court Judge Indira Taiwani during a sentencing hearing for Devin Sloane. Mr. Sloane is one of the parents indicted under the federal investigation, Operation Varsity Blue, for paying Rick Singer to get their children into elite schools. Mr. Sloane paid Mr. Singer $250,000 to get his son into USC as a fake water polo player. Mr. Sloane even staged pictures of his son in their pool to make it look like he was a water polo athlete.

Judge Taiwani was on a roll. She expressed her concern that the parents offered as their excuse that they did it for their children. In Judge Taiwani’s mind, the parents were not providing food or other care taking. Their efforts were not even about access to higher education. Instead, the judge noted that wealthy parents were focused only on getting their children into elite colleges. The judge even expressed frustration because Mr. Sloane did not appear to understand that the real ones hurt in the admissions frauds were those who were not admitted because Mr. Sloane’s son was.

Judge Taiwani sentenced Mr. Sloane, the owner of a water treatment company, to four months in prison, a fine of $95,000, and 500 hours of community service. The first of the parents to plead guilty, Felicity Huffman was sentenced to 14 days in prison. However, she had only paid $15,000 to Rick Singer to get her daughter’s test scores raised.

The good judge raises an important question: What was the motivation of the parents?

About mmjdiary

Professor Marianne Jennings is an emeritus professor of legal and ethical studies from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, retiring in 2011 after 35 years of teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in ethics and the legal environment of business. During her tenure at ASU, she served as director of the Joan and David Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics from 1995-1999. In 2006, she was appointed faculty director for the W.P. Carey Executive MBA Program. She has done consulting work for businesses and professional groups including AICPA, Boeing, Dial Corporation, Edward Jones, Mattel, Motorola, CFA Institute, Southern California Edison, the Institute of Internal Auditors, AIMR, DuPont, AES, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Motorola, Hy-Vee Foods, IBM, Bell Helicopter, Amgen, Raytheon, and VIAD. The sixth edition of her textbook, Case Studies in Business Ethics, was published in February 2011. The ninth edition of her textbook, Business: lts Legal, Ethical and Global Environment was published in January 2011. The 23rd edition of her book, Business Law: Principles and Cases, will be published in January 2013. The tenth edition of her book, Real Estate Law, will also be published in January 2013. Her book, A Business Tale: A Story of Ethics, Choices, Success, and a Very Large Rabbit, a fable about business ethics, was chosen by Library Journal in 2004 as its business book of the year. A Business Tale was also a finalist for two other literary awards for 2004. In 2000 her book on corporate governance was published by the New York Times MBA Pocket Series. Her book on long-term success, Building a Business Through Good Times and Bad: Lessons from Fifteen Companies, Each With a Century of Dividends, was published in October 2002 and has been used by Booz, Allen, Hamilton for its work on business longevity. Her latest book, The Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse was published by St. Martin’s Press in July 2006 and has been a finalist for two book awards. Her weekly columns are syndicated around the country, and her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Reader's Digest. A collection of her essays, Nobody Fixes Real Carrot Sticks Anymore, first published in 1994 is still being published. She has been a commentator on business issues on All Things Considered for National Public Radio. She has served on four boards of directors, including Arizona Public Service (1987-2000), Zealous Capital Corporation, and the Center for Children with Chronic Illness and Disability at the University of Minnesota. She was appointed to the board of advisors for the Institute of Nuclear Power Operators in 2004 and served on the board of trustees for Think Arizona, a public policy think tank. She has appeared on CNBC, CBS This Morning, the Today Show, and CBS Evening News. In 2010 she was named one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Business Ethics by Trust Across America. Her books have been translated into four different languages. She received the British Emerald award for authoring one of their top 50 articles in management publications, chosen from over 15,000 articles. Personal: Married since 1976 to Terry H. Jennings, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office Deputy County Attorney; five children: Sarah, Sam, and John, and the late Claire and Hannah Jennings.
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