Some Punishment

Let the circus begin. I was walking through the atrium in my office building yesterday when I noticed a news flash coming up. The sound was turned down but I knew that the G-8 Summit was currently in progress so I thought perhaps there had been some big decision made or something else worth reporting with such urgency. It was something even bigger. After having served a little less than three days (arriving one hour before midnight at the end of day one doesn't count as one day) Paris Hilton was released from prison on the grounds that she had a 'medical condition'. Hilton was released on the grounds that she remain under house arrest for 40 days. Now I don't know about you, but that doesn't seem like any kind of punishment to me. Forty days in a luxurious mansion with the tons of servants and visitors galore? Let's see how many times her attorney and psychiatrist visit her this time.

I frankly don't care about Hilton or her lifestyle but I feel that this case is one of major injustice. So far the courts and attorneys involved have not come forward to specify what exactly this 'medical condition' was but I think I have a pretty good idea. For a person like Hilton who claims to shun the media on one had but shows up at the MTV Movie Awards just hours before reporting to prison, her condition was probably lack of attention. She had been locked in a 96 square foot cell in isolation, mainly for her safety. Being confined to a room that's probably the same size as her shower stall, I guess it's easy to understand why she would start losing it mentally but that still doesn't seem like a good enough reason to let her go. Had this been a male celebrity, they would have ignored his complaints and left him in prison. Just because it's a person of celebrity status like Paris Hilton, concessions are made.

Prison is enough to make everyone lose it to a certain degree but isn't that the point? Why treat her like a celebrity if the point is to make her think about her mistakes? She knowingly drove on a suspended license and then expected to get off on the charges and prison time? I can't think of a compelling arguement that would lead me to believe that she had a sudden pressing need to go out at the time she was arrested. I mean it's not like she needs the money to support herself. Have you stayed in a Hilton anywhere? Even if she gets a portion of whatever is charged to the room per night, she's still going to be rolling in dough so I don't think the need to support herself is a reason for her to have broken the law. Neither is she on the verge of some major research that will suddenly reverse the effects of greenhouse gases or cure cancer. I'm sure she'd probably be surprised to know that there is no 's' in 'cancer'. So why then was she out there? Simple. She craves the attention.

And it's this constant craving for attention that is probably what is contributing to her apparent mental collapse. Whatever the reason, I don't think it's fair or even reasonable to give her such specialized treatment. If the actor Robert Blake (who is in prison for murdering his wife) complained that he is losing his mind mentally due to his confinement, I really doubt if they'll place him on house arrest in his mansion. I know that the difference between serving time for murder is much different than serving time for driving on a suspended license but you see the point I'm trying to make. By 'reassigning' Hilton to home confinement isn't going to solve anything and will probably not do anything other than lead to her breaking her confinement again anyways.

I mean I wouldn't put it past her to get into her car (on her property) and then board a plane of hers and go somewhere and then stay in a Hilton Hotel (it's got her name on the marquee) and then claim that she never left home because all of these things are her home and property. Martha Stewart tried to get out of her home confinement and go to work and the judge in her case denied her. At least in Stewart's case she served her time for her crime. Before going in Hilton had boasted about how she was going to serve her time rather than pay to stay in a 'country club' prison for extra money. Rather than seizing the opportunity for an idea for the next season of "The Simple Life" she lost it in a matter of hours and proved once again that celebrity status means more in this country than anything else.

I am happy to note that a judge has ordered her to court at 9:00 AM Pacific Time in order to re-examine the decision to reassign her to home confinement. The number of conflicting statements coming out right now are leading many to question what exactly was the basis for the decision. If I were the judge in the case, I would order her back to jail but barring that, I wouldn't order her to stay in her house, I would order her to stay in a normal suburban dwelling with no servants and no visits from friends. Let her survive on her own rather than having all the conviences of such a pampered life. Let her work an actual job rather than just strutting for photographers at one party then the next. We'll find out what the judge thinks in a few hours. If you want to punish someone for a crime then punish all criminals in such cases equally and not on their standing as a celebrity.