Prison for Lori Loughlin? Columnist Says It's 'Nuts'

She deserves a slap on the wrist, not prison time: William McGurn
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 5, 2019 12:38 PM CST
In Defense of Lori Loughlin
Lori Loughlin departs federal court Aug. 27, 2019, in Boston, after a hearing in a nationwide college admissions bribery scandal.   (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Lori Loughlin is enduring a lot of bad press of late, but an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal goes against the grain. "Free Lori Loughlin" reads the headline of William McGurn's column, and he means just that. That Loughlin and her husband could get 45 years in prison on fraud, money laundering, and bribery charges "is nuts," McGurn writes. It's as if they were Bonnie and Clyde, he adds. McGurn isn't saying he approves of anyone who might have bribed officials to get their kid into college. But Loughlin—the target of a dawn raid by the FBI—"is a nonviolent first-offender," and "it's just overkill for federal prosecutors to be devoting so much of their time and resources to make sure this woman goes to prison."

"Does anyone else think it a stretch to argue that two California residents bribing their children's way into a private California university are committing a crime against the federal government?" McGurn asks. "Or that the statutes she's accused of violating ... were really intended to go after people such as Ms. Loughlin?" He hopes they win in court, mainly "because the case reeks of overreach." Loughlin has already missed out on the last season of Fuller House and any future projects with the Hallmark Channel, McGurn adds. But if that's not enough, "by all means, stick her with a fat fine and community service." The full piece has prompted hundreds of comments, and plenty in opposition. Indeed, one person summarized the argument as "go ahead and cheat." (More Lori Loughlin stories.)

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