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Theft by commoner used to be punishable by death or mutilation (theft by elite was not theft to start with). The law was more strict on the everyman and the elite had it written into law that they could get away with more.
Then the elite became subject to the same laws as everyone else.
Suddenly the idea that 'the punishment should fit the crime' popped up.
Theft became punishable by fines only the elite can pay. Which is apparently fair, because the same punishment is dolled out to the rich and poor alike. Such are the reasoning of the liberal enlightenment. Here the illusion of equality exists with out any real equality.
In the USSR commoners would receive 5 year sentences for crimes high beurocrats or public officials would be shot for. Here those with more privileged were punished more harshly for betraying society.
