To be fair, the punishment for shoplifting is often a slap on the wrist. I say this as someone who had a troubled youth and was caught shoplifting as a teenager. I got banned from the premises and no criminal charges even though the police did get involved.

If I had been an adult it undoubtedly would have been a tad harsher but unless the theft amounts to many thousands of dollars I don't think prison time is ever on the table. Even then I'd be surprised. We're not talking about grand theft auto, we're talking about shoplifting. So it's usually misdemeanour. If the merchandise is retrieved then it is returned to the store and the store can sue the guilty party recover to damages if it's worth it.

So I'm not really sure what kind of point you're trying to make. I think it's about inequality. I'm just not really sure how you get there by using shoplifting as your example.

When people get a parking ticket they don’t face criminal charges.

The SEC is a civil authority discouraging behavior. A fine much larger than the upside is a perfectly fine way to handle that.

If the penalty for a crime is a fine, it's only illegal for poor people.

I think it's pretty clear that the law works differently for a man with 16 billion dollars. I don't mean that in a positive way.

ah, no. that's a working-class crime.