The Privileged get off Scott-free?

[Lanya]

Her getting out after 3 days was very surprising to me. 
I'm thinking breathing problems (the jail has mold, maybe, and she has asthma? a guess).

Good on the computer thing, BT.  That can be such a lifeline for people of any age.

[_JS]

All this is fine, but is the Paris Hilton issue "fair"? IOf it were you doing such a sentence, would YOU get out early?

From what I heard on the radio driving in this morning, her treatment has not been that unusual. So as enjoyable as it is to poke fun at both the California penal system and a billionaire heiress who has no understanding of what it means to be even an upper middle class American, she may very well not have been given special treatment here.

[_JS]

One of my duties as a councilman is heading up utility appeals. This is where folks ask for relief because of a broken pipe or they left the hose running overnight or they never suspected a constantly running toilet would use so much water over a months time.

We had one guy come in who proceded to tell us what a sorry bunch we were, how city services suck and how he wished he never moved here. Well he had a running toilet for a month that he admitted he knew was faulty and hadn't bothered to fix, then was surprised when i started laughing when he asked for a break in his water bill.

People are strange!

Heh...that doesn't surprise me at all, both as a civil servant and someone who once worked in the service industry.

You'd be amazed at what customers tried (and often did) to get away with at a department store. One of my favorites were the people who brought in items that were clearly well-used, but wanted a full return. I remember one lady that brought back a weedeater and said these words:

"I've had it two years and it never really worked right."

"Well, did you take it to be serviced?"

"No. But it never worked correctly."

Of course she ended up talking with the manager and walking out with a brand new weedeater.

[Amianthus]

a billionaire heiress

Actually, her grandfather is a billionaire. It's my understanding that her trust fund is no more than about 10-15 million.

[Amianthus]

Her getting out after 3 days was very surprising to me. 

Actually, I just heard that she's probably going back in. Apparently, the judge wrote in his court order that she could not serve her term under house arrest, it must be in a penal facility.

[Xavier_Onassis]

They said that she called in a psychiatrist, and after that, they decided that jail was too hard for the little dear, and she would be sent home with an ankle bracelet.

The average person that gets himself in her sort of problem: alcoholic, driving while drunk, can't afford a lawyer or a psychiatrist and has to do the time.

I, for one, and unconvinced that this special treatment will make Paris a better person.

She is only famous for being famous. Not that I would cross the street to see her.

[_JS]

What offense was this of hers?

We're supposed to have a tough law on drinking while driving here in Tennessee, but I read in the papers all the time about someone picked up on his or her sixth or seventh offense. I'm sorry, but I'd have to see the evidence that she is really being treated differently here. What is the average jail time in California for someone on their first offense (or whatever offense this is of hers) for DUI?

[kimba1]

Actually, her grandfather is a billionaire. It's my understanding that her trust fund is no more than about 10-15 million.

and depending on her burn rate ,that money isn`t gonna grow very much
no matter how well it`s invested.

but she`ll probly borrow money from her sister nikky
she`s actually working.

[fatman]

What is the average jail time in California for someone on their first offense (or whatever offense this is of hers) for DUI?

She is not in jail for a first-offense DUI.  She is in for violating the probation given to her for the DUI.  After she got the DUI, she got probation and got her license yaniked.  Shortly thereafter she was stopped, signed an acknowledgement that her license had been suspended.  Not long after that, she got stopped again.  I don't see any preferential treatment, here in WA, if you violate probation, jail time is usually mandatoy.

[Lanya]

I remember getting patients in the ER from the city jail.  Sometimes, there was even something wrong with them.  Not often, though. 

Whenever we got someone in an orange jumpsuit, I thought  of Patty Hearst.  She had a collapsed lung when she was in prison and would have died if she hadn't been properly cared for.