By all fair (?) means

 Imagine two people commit the same crime. One gets caught. He is apprehended and looked down on by society. The other remains hidden, just another needle in a haystack. You might see him as just another friendly neighbor. You might smile at him and laugh with him, unaware of even the slightest hint of what lies in his backyard.

Imagine two people commit the same crime. Both get caught, but one is rich. The first guy becomes a well-known culprit, stuck in the shambles of his shame. Maybe he might have been a good man, caught in the heat of the moment, but nobody knows, and nobody cares. The second, rich man, however, gets off without a scratch. It might burn a hole in his pocket—depending on the size of his pocket—but he can get away scot-free if he puts his mind to it.

Two guys get caught for the same crime, but one is rich AND famous. He uses the scandal to get flashed in the papers—whether to his advantage or disadvantage depends on how he steers it. He is rich, so the media bends to his will if he wills it. He is famous, and celebrities ought to have at least one scandal to get their names into the hall of fame, right? Just another rape amid tons of others that happen in the country all the damn time. Or maybe, if he puts his mind to it, he can steer the case onto someone else's head. Even when the whole world knows he is wrong—even when there is sufficient evidence that would have damned any other common man—he can get out of it and still make washed-out, second-rate movies by taking advantage of the tired victim's loosened fight.

The other guy rots in jail, thinking of new ways to get back at society for disregarding him because he isn't rich or famous.

Two guys get caught for the same crime, but one is smarter. He befriends people in prison and plays his cards right. He uses his newfound prison-gambled money to his advantage, plans his great escape, pulls all the strings, and tugs on all the favors he can. And if that doesn't work, his escapade becomes some sort of epic freak show, with cops running after him—scared for their lives, not for the safety of the people, but for the consequences they will otherwise face from the hierarchy. If they are lucky, they find him in a well, struggling with one hand while dangling on a little bedsheet strategy he came up with. The other guy is dumb; he plays into the hands of the other prisoners and ends up getting raped and wronged, perhaps even turning into one of his fellow taunters in the process of that long run.

Two people find themselves at a great crossroads, with the option to commit a crime. One walks away because he feels it is morally wrong, against his ethics as a man. He will be called righteous, but he may be disregarded by another impartial party who is driven by pure logic, for not taking his chance at personal gain. The other also refuses—not because he is righteous or ethical, but because he is scared of the law. ONLY because he is scared of the law.

And perhaps it is these laws and rules that we are so bent on breaking that keep us safe and cozy in our shells. But it is even funnier that these laws can conveniently hide its perpetrators when it deems necessary. After all, the whole game is about protecting face, is it not? And maybe freedom, but that lies at the end of a long long tunnel, or in the World Trade Organization or the Pentagon, depending on how we choose to make sense of our beliefs.

Ithaca is not too far, my friend. You only need to worry if your home remains as intact as the state you left it in.