29 Jan 2013
Contributing Opinion
In the aftermath of a brawl between singers Frank Ocean and Chris Brown’s respective posses at a Los Angeles recording studio last Sunday, one thing is for certain:
It’s about time for Mr. Chris Brown to be locked up in some sort of correctional facility.
He’s a temperamental man-child who deserves to have serious repercussions when he breaks the law, just like what happens to pretty much every other American.
I know that Chris Brown still has millions of fans, a lot of which are female, despite that one time he nearly eviscerated pop singer Rihanna. These are people that defend this guy’s every move, and those moves resemble the backstory of a Batman villain. But I have a common sense of justice, so I’m here to condemn Chris Brown’s actions.
My arguments also have a little more to them than “he’s sexy” or “he can sing.” They generally only have one strong point, and it’s that “he broke the law and got caught doing it.”
Chris Brown is literally a threat to society, which is one of the main things that comes into determining if somebody goes to prison. He’s been proven to have a temper shorter than Thanksgiving break.
He threw a tantrum and destroyed his dressing room on Good Morning America because they asked him about that time he used Rihanna as a punching bag.
He only got probation and community service for that. What if everyone had a lawyer that great? Saddam Hussein would’ve probably been fined and had his dictatorship license suspended for a year or two.
Although nobody was hurt during his hissy fit, he still caused property damage in excess of $1,000 which is a felony in New York City. Good Morning America didn’t press charges, but they should have.
He also got into a huge scuffle with Drake, another singer, at a New York City nightclub in which no legal action was taken.
To Chris Brown’s credit, he isn’t the first celebrity to openly display their knack for stupidity and disregard for the law. O.J. Simpson killed a person, and didn’t go to jail for that crime. Charlie Sheen dabbled in domestic abuse too.
Lindsey Lohan has essentially taken on acting as a part time job, and entered the field of driving under the influence as a career. She generally gets a slap on the wrist for every offense, and maybe a month or two in jail.
Chris Brown needs to go to jail because he’ll do something violent again, and the only solution is to lock him up hoping his actions are corrected. He doesn’t need to go to a jail or prison for violating his probation, which ends in August of next year.
Instead, he needs to go because the justice system should operate equally for all citizens in the United States of America regardless of their paycheck or level of celebrity.
If that’s not the case, why even call it a justice system?
H. Drew Blackburn is an English senior. He can be reached at hdrewblackburn@gmail.com.
