The Paris Debacle

What a freakin' cluster! Who's on first?

Let me start off this rant by first stating that I agree with the court's decision to send Paris Hilton to jail for violating her probation, stemming from her DUI earlier this year. I'm very familiar with DUI laws, and it is always made abundantly clear that if you violate the terms of your probation, you WILL go to jail. When one gets a DUI, your license gets suspended, which means YOU CANNOT DRIVE (unless you get a restricted license which allows you to drive to work and back, or to your DUI education classes; it takes jumping through hoops to get one). She didn't get a restricted license, so she shouldn't have been driving. It's not rocket science...

Paris puts her pants on the same way we do, she poops, wakes up with morning breath, and is no better or more important than ANYONE because of her fame or wealth. She should be punished the say we would be. This is why I support the judge's decision to send her to jail for violating probation. I was even ok with her reduced sentence, because normal people get their sentences reduced every day, but she needs to pay the piper.

HOWEVER, what on earth is going on now? She went to jail to serve her (reduced) sentence - peacefully and respectfully at that. Then she got released by the Sheriff's Department for some mysterious ailment (sources on the internet say she had a herpes outbreak - hardly life-threatening; others say it was a "nervous breakdown" - puhlease), and was dragged back to court today in her jammies and handcuffs by the court system to make sure their verdict was actually upheld.

It seems to me that Hilton is caught between an issue arising between the right hand and left hand not communicating. Did the Sheriff's department have a right to release her to home custody? Does the court have the power to override the decision of the Sheriff's department? Who freakin' knows? But at first glance, this is totally an embarrassment to the entire country regarding how our law and justice works out here in California. I'm sure this kind of cluster happens all the time, but with a high profile prisoner, it highlights the inefficacy of our system.

I don't think that Hilton has had any civil liberties breached or anything, but she has DEFINITELY been dicked around here as a result of the total mockery to our justice system - she committed to doing her sentence, was told she could go home, did so, and was dragged back kicking and screaming. I don't even like the chick, but that's just not cool! Shouldn't it be *obvious* who is in charge of making these types of decisions for prisoners - the court vs. the Sheriffs?

I'll be interested to see how her wealthy and litigious family handles this situation civilly, after all is said and done. Perhaps they should look into suing Paris's lawyers for malpractice - they are probably the ones that sent the shrink into the jail, and talked the Sheriff's office into releasing her early. Now she has to serve the full 45 days instead of the 23!!!

I AM glad to see that the idiotic decision of the Sheriff's department to release her has been reversed, and that she's back in jail like she should be, but the decision to release her shouldn't have been made in the FIRST PLACE! Geez!

Stay tuned! Mer