"Paris Hilton will serve about half of her 45-day jail sentence and will be separated from the general inmate population, authorities said Wednesday.
The hotel heiress will spend about 23 days in a "special needs housing unit" at the Century Regional Detention Center in suburban Lynwood, Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said.
Her sentence was shortened after jail officials gave her credit for good behavior, Whitmore said. Officials considered several factors in calculating the credit, including that she appeared for her latest court date, he said. (????!!!)
Hilton will stay in a unit that contains 12 two-person cells reserved for police officers, public officials, celebrities and other high-profile inmates, he said.
Like everyone else in the 2,200-inmate facility, Hilton will get at least an hour outside her cell each day to shower, watch television, participate in outdoor recreation or talk on the telephone, he said.
The 26-year-old socialite was sentenced to jail this month for violating the terms of her probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case. A judge ordered her to report to jail by June 5." - Yahoo News
I am a little irritated by this. I know, I know, Jail sucks. I don't wish that anyone should break the law and go there. But shouldn't jail suck equally for all who go?
Had a good friend a few years back, who will go unnamed, (his picture shows up on this blog from time to time...) who got pulled over and put in the slammer for an unpaid ticket. (200 dollar ticket) Now this friend of mine was mighty low on cash at the time, as most college kids are, and was VERY close to payday. A series of unfortunate events followed including several FAILED attempts at reaching anyone to bail him out. This landed him in a room full of VERY dangerous men. (5O or so in a room that should only hold about 15)
Some of these men were exchanging sexual acts on each other and on themselves out in the open. Needless to say, my friend, the only white preppy male in the bunch, was getting a tad frightened. Salvation came at the LAST moment after they had become more brave in their advances, noticing that no one was coming to his rescue. Right as the fight broke out the Officer approached the Cell and called his name.
Now, if no one would have called, he could have been raped and beaten like there was no tomorrow. In fact, it was about to happen.
No 2-room paradise slammer suite for my friend who was going 60 in a 45. No "special treatment." Nope, thrown to the lions like a fresh cut of lamb. Paris get summer camp for repeated DWI's and my buddy got the Rape Chamber for going 15 over at 2 a.m.
Something NOT FAIR about all this.
6 comments:
yeeeah
our sytem is so messed up it's not funny.
my in-laws are experiencing this first hand.
www.freemikenow.com
My lord that is horrible.
In fact, it is my NIGHTMARE. Or anyone's (especially a man's) to be exact.
Another person goes on the prayer list tonight...
Thanks for showing that.
I have long thought that our prison system is one of the worst things about our culture. Totally antiquated way of doing things and a complete drain on our tax money.
An overhaul extraordinaire is due for our system. Minor offenders should maybe spend the night in jail, but not with a bunch of dangerous criminals, most serious criminals now or before.
I have thought about keeping an unused credit card for just such an emergency.
I feel you 100% on this post, Seth. You are absolutely correct in every way.
However (you didn't think I was agreeing just to agree, did you?), I would just like to point out that "fairness" is a very relative subject, and potentially a very slippery slope to go down.
It's easy to compare ourselves to Paris Hilton, because we are always the slighted ones in that case.
But how about being born in a small African village, with barely enough food to survive, and losing both parents to AIDS before you are five years old. Does that seem fair? Or being thrown into a political prison in a third-world country and being beaten and tortured because you won't go along with some madman's evil plans? Fair?
I could go on, but you get the idea. The world is an inherently unfair place. We (you and I, that is) are way more often than not on the good side of the "that's not fair" deal, wouldn't you agree? So while it's noble to work to end injustice, and we should, it seems a little hollow and meaningless to complain about how a rich heiress seems to be easily able to beat the system, and isn't forced to live like the rest of us.
Ultimately, each of us will give an account based on what we had and what we chose to do with it, not on what somebody else gets away with.
I'm with Seth on this one. The problem is that, while we know the world is not fair, we have built a society that's supposed to be built on fairness. We are naturally upset when the system itself is the source of unfairness.
The amount of money/fame/position we possess should not influence the way our laws apply to us. It's maddening that it does.
"The amount of money/fame/position we possess should not influence the way our laws apply to us. It's maddening that it does." -Right on brother.
"We hold these truths to be self-evident. That all men are created equal."
This is the underlying tenet of our whole friggin law. Life isn't fair. But we do live in a society that is built on "fairness" or at least it tries to be or says that it is.
Getting the easy life in jail because you are Paris Hilton while someone else gets the Rape chamber for a less hanus crime is not fair. It is in direct opposition to the statement: "all men are created equal."
Hey, the world has ALWAYS been for the rich. And America, despite it's rhetoric, has never really stood for equality. Look how long it took to end slavery, to allow African Americans to vote, to allow women to vote. Look who controls the legislature--the ultra wealthy. It's NOT a representation for the people, but for wealthy lobbyists. The only people who can realistically run for public office (at a state or national level) are the independently wealthy. Do you or I realistically have a chance of ever running for Congress...let alone the Presidency?
It's nice to think of those words "We hold these truths to be self evident..." but the reality is, America is a hierarchical society and always has been.
We, the proletariat, the commoners, will NEVER be treated with the same respect and deference that the ultra-wealthy garner.
The bottom line is, those with money always have more priveleges than those without. It's a Law of Man and no piece of paper will change that.
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