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Paris Hilton
MORALITY AND THE LAW XC
By Stephen Ellis
THE MORALITY OF PARIS HILTON
No BLOG this week could be complete unless it discussed the Paris Hilton matter…about her going to jail and all the hullabaloo about Sheriff Lee Baca, Judge Michael Sauer, about her being released from incarceration then being sent back to jail; about the hue and cry of the public regarding “celebrity justice”…
People who read my BLOG regularly know that I frequently take unpopular positions. In this case, I feel that what was done to Hilton is a gross miscarriage of justice.
Having read the comments by the public on AOL about Paris being returned to jail, I find myself completely astonished that people today, in our modern world, have not changed significantly from the citizens of France in the 1790s Revolution where the ”citizens” watched people being taken to the guillotine in carts. The French citizens spat on them, threw rotten fruits and vegetables at them and cheered when the guillotine lopped-off someone’s head. And what crime were these beheaded people guilty of? They were guilty of bring French “aristocrats”. Their only crime was being born into money and position. Their parents or grandparents worked their way up from the ground much as did Conrad Hilton who started the hotel chain. But, they were fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to be born into wealth and, accordingly, society and position.
The comments in the AOL public forum spewed forth the same kind of venom for Paris Hilton: “She thinks she’s better than we are!” “Celebrity justice!” “Let her rot in jail and throw away the key!” “She’s getting special treatment because she’s a Hilton”.
These remarks demonstrate the same level of intelligence used to re-elect George W. Bush. To me, it’s shocking that in more than 200 years, peoples’ minds have not grown significantly. I have no doubt that Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson (to me, the two biggest bigots in the country) will be on TV trying to make it a “race” issue and preaching that Black people in prison don’t get the same treatment as Paris Hilton. Most jail inmates are a “menace to society”. I don’t think Paris Hilton fits that description. I, for one, am proud of the fact that we treat murderers and rapists differently than people who accidentally run a stop sign.
People filled with hatred and jealousy for the rich and famous are society’s “losers”. Not one of the people throwing their literary rotten fruits and vegetables, seems to realize that the sentence cast upon Paris Hilton by Judge Sauer was not for what she did, but because she was Paris Hilton. If Paris Hilton had not been the subject of massive media coverage, her sentence for driving with a .8 alcohol blood level (one Marguerita) would not have been so severe. Every day, first-offenders cited under the DUI laws are given “probation” or “community service”. Even 2nd offenders are frequently given probation with driving restrictions. But Paris Hilton was given a jail sentence as a part of her probation…because she was Paris Hilton and was in the public eye. The court, very reluctantly, allowed her to remain out of jail while on probation.
Then, she did a stupid thing: she drove her car while she was on probation. I can’t count the number of people driving cars on our streets with a suspended license or a license that has been revoked or while on probation. Paris Hilton did not violate any rules of the road but, because she was Paris Hilton, the paparazzi immediately reported to the police that she was driving her vehicle again. The paparazzi had a field day when the police stopped her thanks to the paparazzi having called the police and telling them to “get her”.
The normal penalty for something like that, especially from someone who is not considered to be a danger to others, is to suspend their license for six months or for a year. But not in the case of Paris Hilton. She was sentenced to spend 45 days in jail.
If you want to talk about “celebrity justice”, you’ve got to look at both sides of the coin: sometimes celebrities do get favorable treatment…and sometimes they are punished more because they are celebrities.
Let me make it clear that I am not a Paris Hilton “fan”. I have never met her, nor have I ever communicated with her in any manner whatsoever. I believe her style and mannerisms such as wild partying, dancing on tables, etc. are a terrible example for our youth. But on the other side of the coin, she is an heiress with an outstandingly good entrepreneurial brain: she has converted her status as an heiress into a multi-million dollar enterprise. Even though she will never need the money, to me she has shown an exceptionally keen sense for business. She’s not pretty enough to be a model, nor talented enough to be a movie star…but she has made her name known throughout the world to the point that she has done top-notch modeling jobs, appeared in motion pictures, has a TV series...she even managed to overcome the criticism of her infamous sex tapes.
And that’s why people hate her. She, like the Frenchmen headed to the guillotine, is a highly publicized “aristocrat”. She has demonstrated a level of accomplishment, in the public eye, the guillotine watchers will never achieve.
The mindless people berating her and cheering when the court, effectively, “lopped off her head” are about as poor an example of Americanism as I have ever seen.
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6/11/07 6:30 PM