Felicity Huffman has been sentenced to only 14 days in prison for her involvement in the college admissions scandal. 14 days. Amidst the battle between the prosecution and defense, I found a comment by Huffman’s lawyer interesting. He stated: “a term of imprisonment was not needed as a deterrent in Ms. Huffman’s case because she had already suffered considerably, by being publicly shamed, seeing her acting career crater, and facing the anger of both her daughters.”

Public shaming as a bigger deterrent than prison for crime is an almost medieval sentiment. It puts a lot of power into the hands of the mob. This can either be the mob of Twitter or the public itself. Justice will be done when she is ignored and forgotten.

Or will it?

Public shaming isn’t the death penalty. The people live on, the mob forgets, and the people come back. Louis C.K. was publicly shamed and stripped of his career in 2017 and yet he’s already working on his come back. Aziz Ansari, who wasn’t a criminal but who was publicly shamed, has a brand new Netflix special. Finally, the prime example of public shaming, O.J. Simpson, has more than 904-thousand followers on Twitter.

A question to be asked, though, is whether public shaming would be more effective depending on the gender. All of my examples were males. We do live in a society where powerful men, even if punished, get a slap on the wrist and then are pushed on their way. Huffman’s lawyer may believe the shame may be more detrimental to Huffman because of her image as a wholesome, down-to-earth actress. Gender may play a role in public shaming, but there is a figure who provides a counterpoint to the role of gender.

That figure is Martha Stewart.

Martha Stewart fits the same bill as Huffman. She was criminally charged in stock trading fraud and, because of it, was publicly shamed. She served five months in prison. Stewart adopted that shame, weaving it into her public image. She was still wholesome, but now with a dark streak that’s endearing like Betty White cursing. Huffman could similarly adapt her image to fit her public shaming. As with Stewart, adapting her image would take time, but in the end she would be laughing along with the rest of us.

In her most recent role, Huffman portrayed Linda Fairstein in Netflix’s “When They See Us.” Fairstein oversaw the prosecution in the Central Park Five case, which put away five innocent African American teens. Huffman plays Fairstein to a perfect, hateable T. This is one way she could steer her career and make a comeback. She could take on smaller roles that take the shame and play into it. She could continue this until the criminal case is well behind her, and then, maybe, she’ll be back into show business.

Public shaming is not a death penalty for people’s careers. I believe shame has no potency anymore in our post-Trump society. The shame lasts for one newscycle. By the end of the day, we are all moving onto the next scandal or breaking news. A few weeks of shameful coverage is nothing to Huffman, and neither is 14 days in prison. Yet, I feel we should all be thankful for a 14 day sentence. It is not enough of a punishment for Huffman, but it is probably the most our post-shame society can afford.

True Dabill can be reached at dabi7280@stthomas.edu.