A Matter Of Perspective

I agree with Matt Yglesias that Novak seems to have gotten off with an absurdly light slap on the wrist for hitting some guy with his car.

But what really is the issue here is that the police and/or the DA have seen fit to charge him with virtually nothing. To be clear, the penalty for "lawlessly running down pedestrians" in DC is not a $50 fine. Based on the facts as I know them (and keep in mind I am basing this on media interviews with witnesses who may have an interest in their depiction of events), it seems Novak could have been charged with fleeing the scene of an accident ($500 fine and/or 6 months in jail for first offense), and reckless driving ($250 fine and/or 3 months in jail). It's just that he wasn't charged that way. (For a nice list of DC traffic infractions go here).

The fact that he was fined $50 is not the result of some gross inequity between fines for bike riders and fines for motorists. It's an inequity between powerful white journalist and non-powerful white journalists.