I've given out merits to a lot of different users here, and not just to those who are higher ranked. In fact, I've made it a point to limit the number of merits I give out to legendary members, since they don't really "need" them. The problem is, and always has been, that bitcointalk is flooded with noob shitposters who don't understand English and don't put any thought into their posts. The good posts--often by Hero/Legendary members, get silenced amid the roar of garbage posts. So if it seems like noobs aren't getting a lot of merit, it's true; they're not. They are in general the least deserving of it, IMO
I have seen lots of users in the forum (mostly came from Newbies and Junior Members) posted broken-English threads. I am not sure they came from spammers, who usually using Google translate for their daily boring works; but mostly came from them.
I also hope that merit system will completely eliminate those users out of the forum forever.