APBP Article Oasis

Careless Actions Cause Death, But No Consequences for Brandy

Brandy, the R&B singer and former star of TV’s “Moesha”, recently killed another motorist on the Los Angeles 405 freeway by failing to stop, rear-ending a mother of two at high speed and ending her life. While it’s true that accidents do happen, so do vehicular manslaughter charges against most people who recklessly cause road fatalities. Once again, celebrity culture has prevailed, and despite her repeated admittance of guilt both at the scene and afterwards, no charges have been filed.

I wonder how vehemently Brandy herself would pursue charges had someone not paying attention rear-ended her mother and ended her life? I also wonder why the State Police of California, who were the first on the scene and are in charge of the investigation, have failed to press charges. Is Brandy’s career more valuable than Awatef Aboudihaj, the lady who was killed? Do her two motherless children deserve no justice for having to grow up without a parent because of someone’s careless actions?

It’s almost insulting that a crime (and the last time I checked, it is still a crime to recklessly cause the death of another person) committed by a celebrity would go unpunished while the same crime committed by a regular person would cause that person to suffer the immediate consequences of justice. In my opinion, no one should be above the law. Yet this poor ladies’ life, snuffed out by the actions of an irresponsible person, apparently has no more importance than a dollar value in a civil suit.

Why exactly do we spoil celebrities to the point that we are allowing them to involuntarily, and in some cases such as Robert Blake and O.J. Simpson, voluntarily murder other people without consequence? What sort of society do we live in when a human life and all the lives adversely affected by its passing are meaningless in the face of celebrity? I’d be willing to bet that there are hundreds if not thousands of cases in California where everyday people have killed others in the course of being reckless and paid a heavy price for doing so. If justice is suitable for them, why is it less suitable for Brandy?

Don’t get me wrong, celebrity deserves the trappings associated with it. You want a better table at Spago, fine. You want access to places I would be hard pressed to ever see the interior of, knock yourself out…you deserve it. What I can’t condone, and what society shouldn’t be willing to overlook, is that celebrity now seems to grant a free pass to get away with murder. Justice apparently isn’t applied equally to all, and that’s an injustice that needs to be rectified.

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