Shawskank Redemption*

The daily soap opera that is the "incarcerated" life of Paris Hilton has taken a new twist. Every person able to watch, listen to, or read a TV or news website, has surely been informed of the socialite's release from a California jail. It's received more press than the G8 Summit.

Sheriff Baca stated that she was released for "medical reasons;" yet the sheriff refused to expound upon his statement for "privacy reasons." The blogosphere and news outlets have been full of rampant speculation as to what the major "medical" problem is. I had heard everything from a rash to a refusal to eat prison food, and from sleep deprivation to claustrophobia.

Baca is further quoted as saying, "The problem here is that there is a medical issue and it isn't wise to keep a person in jail with her problem over an extended period of time and let the problem get worse." I'm a little confused, but shouldn't a modern prison facility have a medical ward? We're not talking about Devil's Island, Abu Ghraib, Chateau d'If, Old Tolbooth, or The Maze. It's a modern day Los Angelos prison, with a wing designed to keep celebrities, police officers, and politicians from mingling with the general prison population. (see BBC Article). I don't remember any other inmates getting out recently because they missed their caviar or 24 carat ring - which I saw on a news show once, it was obscene, even by legal standards.

Something I will rarely say, but I agree with Rev. Al Sharpton in this BBC article on the subject. This release by the sheriff smacks of favoritism. It seems Baca is sheriff by day and a fighter for social justice and inequity by night. He is quoted as saying, "My message to those who don't like celebrities is that punishing celebrities more than the average American is not justice." I agree that punishing celebrities more than the average Joe Schmoe is not equal justice and is a poor use of our justice and penal systems. However, I fail to see how the punishment that Ms. Hilton received was more severe than other probation violators. As my previous post described, her attorney claims the cell was too small and isolated, yet is designed to protect her. Baca's logic only works if: 1) Keeping celebrities with unnamed medical conditions is more severe in punishment than keeping non-celebrities with the same medical condition or 2) Ms. Hilton received a worse sentence merely because she has celebrity status. Violating probation can lead to imprisonment of the entire sentence for the original crime. In Iowa, a DUI usually leads to a 6-month deferred sentence. However, a violation of your probation gives the court the discretion to incarcerate you for the entire six months that it originally deferred. I may not be familiar with the laws of CA but I doubt it's much different.

Ms. Hilton -unless the judge rules otherwise- will get to spend 40 days in house arrest. Baca made a big deal to point out she won't be able to leave her home. Sorry, but 40 days in a four-story 1920's Hollywood mansion is not a deterrent. ET showed a delivery van bringing Ms. Hilton her favorite cupcakes and two friends coming to visit. It seems her "medical" concerns have abated quite quickly. Hopefully the air of the Hollywood hills and cupcakes will allow her to heal better than would have otherwise happened under state doctor supervision.

Of course, since writing this and before I could post it after work, Ms. Hilton was taken back to her cell, kicking and screaming the entire way. She now has to serve the full 45 day sentence in jail as opposed to the 23 day sentence she was originally required to serve after 'good behavior.' She screamed "[i]t's not right" at the judge while in tears after the sentence can down. She also screamed for her mommy... how more cliche can you get?

* The title is borrowed from the 7-Jun-2007 Daily Show with Jon Stewart, in which Jon stated they would not be covering the Hilton saga but if they did the story might be titled "The Shawskank Redemption."