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June 8, 2007
The Paris jail saga continues ... and raises equal justice concerns
As this AP article details, only a matter of hours "after Paris Hilton was sent home under house arrest Thursday, the judge who put her in jail for violating her reckless-driving probation ordered her into court to determine whether she should be put back behind bars."
I'm not sure I have enough energy or interest to come up with any thoughtful commentary on this latest development in the Paris debacle. Fortunately, Laura Appleman at PrawfsBlawg and Jeralyn at TalkLeft have smart things to say about all the Hilton brouhaha.
UPDATE: Hilton's early release seems to be the top story on all the morning talk shows, and the focus is justifiably turning to whether any other jail inmate could have be reassigned to home confinement based on the "medical conditions" cited as the reason for Hilton's release. (My favorite sound-bite: "Paris is going from the big house to the really big house.").
Here is the start of a telling commentary from John Gibson at Fox News, entitled "Al Sharpton is Right about Paris Hilton":
Today when Paris Hilton got sprung from jail 20 days early — from a sentence that was just half of what was originally imposed — the story turned out to be that Paris' shrink went to the jailers and said she was about to have a nervous breakdown. So they let her go home early with an ankle bracelet. Sharpton immediately said there may have been racism involved here.
Look, when he's right he's right. No matter what you think of Rev. Al, it is hard to imagine that anywhere in America a black woman is getting out of jail today because her shrink says she's about to have a nervous breakdown. He says it wouldn't happen, and I agree.
It shouldn't happen either. It shouldn't happen with "little miss just anybody," whether she's African-American or white or Asian or Hispanic or anything. And it shouldn't have happened with Paris Hilton.
June 8, 2007 at 12:34 AM | Permalink
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It's quite simple really: If I were the judge I'd hold the sheriff in contempt and make him serve out the remainder of Hilton's term.
The law is not mocked.... [Read More]
Tracked on Jun 8, 2007 7:14:49 AM
Comments
If I were the judge I'd hold the sheriff in contempt and make him serve out the remainder of Hilton's term.
Posted by: KipEsquire | Jun 8, 2007 7:06:44 AM
Hmm the sheriff will put himself in his own jail to serve a contempt sentence. Andrew Jackson had something to say about a similar situation.
Posted by: John Neff | Jun 8, 2007 8:55:22 AM
Sharpton should just shut up.
Posted by: federalist | Jun 8, 2007 10:06:17 AM
Wait a minute. Shouldn't we (especially California) be putting a whole lot more people out on ankle bracelets? - Teri Carns, research work, Alaska
Posted by: Teri Carns | Jun 8, 2007 2:00:18 PM
I'll state this once again. These early releases whether they are just that an early release, or a work release, or serving only weekends, or a release to house arrest have been taking place for years. I was one of the first to participate in the work release program. That was for a drunk driving 24 years ago. It's not like this is the first time the sheriff has let people out early. Every year right around budget time he starts with the early releases due to lack of funds. C'mon people get real do a little research.
Posted by: Robert Kent | Jun 10, 2007 4:56:46 AM
