Singer-songwriter John Legend has criticised actress Felicity Huffman's 14-day sentence for her involvement in a college admission scam.
The sentence caused quite a stir on social media. While some users said the star did not deserve a sentence, others felt that she should have been given more sentence time, reported Deadline.
Social media users spoke about the disparities between the sentences, with some saying Huffman's 14-day sentence is a result of celebrity privilege or white privilege.
Legend, an advocate of criminal justice reform, addressed the issue in a series of tweets without mentioning Huffman's name.
"I get why everyone gets mad when rich person X gets a short sentence and poor person of color Y gets a long one," he began. "The answer isn't for X to get more; it's for both of them to get less (or even none!!!) We should level down not up."
"Americans have become desensitized to how much we lock people up. Prisons and jails are not the answer to every bad thing everyone does, but we've come to use them to address nearly every societal ill," he added.
Legend then mentioned some of the cases the people cited as examples of inequities in sentencing.
"It's insane we locked a woman up for 5 years for sending her kid to the wrong school district. Literally everyone involved in that decision should be ashamed of themselves," he tweeted.
The singer also argued that nothing is gained by sending Huffman to prison, writing, "No one in our nation will benefit from the 14 days an actress will serve for cheating in college admissions."
According to Fox News, Huffman must surrender herself to the authorities on October 25, 2019.
The actor will also have to serve one-year probation, complete 250 hours of community service and make a payment of USD 30,000 as a fine, reported CNN.
The matter of the scam started when earlier in March, the 'When They See Us' actress was sent behind the bars for paying USD 15,000 to improve her 19-year-old daughter Sophia's SAT scores.
Thereafter she apologised in a statement where she was found guilty of committing mail fraud and honest services fraud.
( With inputs from ANI )