United States v. Lori Loughlin, et al. (Varsity Blues Scandal)

In Summation - The Final Word

Remember Full House? Remember how wholesome and family-friendly it was? Remember Aunt Becky? She was married to Uncle Jesse. She was part of that wave of television which instilled good family values and strong moral character while still being funny and entertaining...life before the OC.
But despite Lori Loughlin's fairly robust acting career, she found herself on the wrong side of the law. In this episode, Paul breaks down the largest college admissions scandal in US history. The "Varsity Blues" case showcased everything wrong with how rich, entitled people could manipulate and cheat the system to get their kids into the higher education programs of their choice.
There was no trial here, everyone in the case pleaded guilty, so this episode is a little different. But most cases don't go to trial, the vast majority of prosecutions end up in guilty pleas. Without getting into the weeds on whether that, in and of itself, is an issue we need to remedy, this case presents a look at the common situation of what you do when you have one legal argument to make, and it doesn't work. When a defense lawyer sees one avenue to getting a case dismissed, and the judge disagrees, sometimes the best advice you can give to a client is, know when to take a deal and reduce your punishment.
This case is also interesting because of the unique nature of the deal that Loughlin got.
Listen and enjoy!