Jail may not be best penalty for college admissions cheat

Alas, Alec Baldwin. He does a fair job portraying an entitled narcissist on “Saturday Night Live.” But then he ruins it by acting like one in his real life.

He tweeted in support fellow actor Felicity Huffman as she reported for her 14-day stay in a low-security federal prison, punishment for her role in the college admissions scandal.

Huffman began serving her time Oct. 15, after pleading guilty to paying $15,000 to have her daughter’s SAT answers changed.

Baldwin took exception to the prison time, posting: “I don’t think anyone involved in the college fraud cases should go to prison. That includes past cases as well.

“Community service, fines, yes. But prison time, no. My heart goes out to Felicity, Bill Macy and their family.”

Baldwin has a defensible point. But the defense he chose, alas, dragged him further down a rabbit hole of privilege.

“The demonization of wealth in this country is mind blowing,” Baldwin posted to answer the swarm of critics who quickly took him to task.

“A country built on both freedoms and commerce. Now, all success is scrutinized. Merely to succeed, especially financially, invites scrutiny, judgment, abuse.”

Wrong. Huffman’s doing time — albeit a meager amount in relatively plush surroundings dubbed “Club Fed” — because she was daft enough to believe that it was OK for her to cheat.

She’s being punished for the hubris of believing that money can buy her child out of the difficulties poor and middle-class kids have to face on their own.

Lord knows this nation adores the rich. It’s why the country elected the reality TV star Baldwin loves to lampoon.

The college admissions scandal has long drawn the view that public humiliation of the famous was sufficient. As if anything more would be just too much for these precious stars to bear.

Huffman was ordered to perform 250 hours of community service and pay $30,000. She could make a substantial and longstanding contribution if she educated herself to become an advocate for the type of student that her actions most offended.

Place Huffman in the counseling office of a troubled public high school and let her get a heavy dose of the trials that less privileged students face. She could shadow a teenager who works nights and weekends to save for college, one whose parents didn’t attend school past the 12th grade.

Let her get close enough so that she learns the gritty details, the subtle factors that determine who rises in society and who gets mired.

I’m sure Huffman has already been cut to the core. Her deeply apologetic statement of remorse to the court included a retelling of how her oldest daughter reacted when she learned of her mother’s deed.

“I don’t know who you are anymore, Mom,” her daughter said, according to coverage by USA Today of Huffman’s sentencing. “Why didn’t you believe in me, Mom? Why didn’t you think I can do it on my own?”

The cheating provided the teenager a staggering 400-point rise over the results she achieved in a practice test.

Huffman’s challenge now is to make amends outside of her family, to be a voice for those who are equally, if not even more deserving of the breaks that she illegally tried to snare for her own.