Fri 8 Jun 2007
Good morning, folks.
While I abhor Paris Hilton and her vapid, pointless celebrity as much as the next person, she has actually succeeded today in making legitimate news. Not “Paris is drunk driving” news. Not “Paris made a sex tape” news.
No, Paris got released from jail because of an “unspecified medical condition”.
Various reports originally circulated that she had a rash; then it appreared jail food didn’t agree with her… and now it seems she was simply not enjoying her stay. Interestingly enough, this is not the news that I’m talking about.
No, I’m talking about this quadriplegic man who, in 2004, died in jail due to a different “medical condition”… namely that his jailors failed to provide him with a ventilator.
Different jails, different dates, different people – but the fact is, there is a double standard here that cannot be ignored. With talks of Scooter Libby being pardoned (patsy though he may be) I think it’s fairly safe to say that this is incontrovertible proof:
You can literally be rich enough – or powerful enough – to be above the law.
While I certainly would not even think to argue with your point normally, I do think that it’s important to point out that the amount of time Paris stayed in jail is actually equal to the amount of time that you or I would spend there for the same crime–due to the degree of overcrowding. There simply aren’t enough resources in the system to hold everyone with this charge for the full sentence (and that doesn’t even include the costs of extra security and whatnot that I’m sure accompanied Ms. Hilton’s stay). I would normally back this up with the article I read yesterday giving these stats, but I can’t seem to find it right now and it’s probably not the best use of my time.
Apparently, she is headed back there to finish the original sentence. It looks like they are going to make an example out of her afterall. And I can’t say I’m upset about that.
Sorry- Here’s the link
http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/08/paris.hilton.ap/index.html
yep!! she’s back in there…apparently a sheriff can’t just change someone’s sentence….how odd….
Indeed. We can all rest assured that special punishment is now being given to the wealthy!
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/08/us/08cnd-paris.html?hp
My good-fer-nuttin’ ex husband had 3 DUIs and he was only in jail-jail perhaps 5 complete days total. The rest of the time was split between a 30 day stay in the ‘workhouse’ (where you’re allowed to go to work and then return to jail when you’re done for the day) and home monitoring with an ankle bracelet. It doesn’t seem Paris had an overly lenient sentence at all. Home monitoring with periodic random urine checks and breathalyzers is really bad for the partier types like Paris.