Mom! Mom! It’s Not Right (That You Get to Cut the Visitors’ Line)
So what’s the latest news about our favorite celebrity heiress? We’re guessing you’re already familiar with the story about how she “was so terrified guards would snap a cell-phone picture of her on the toilet that she didn’t eat or drink for three days.”
The most recent update comes from the AP:
The parents of Paris Hilton didn’t have to wait long to visit their daughter Tuesday, raising more questions of whether the hotel heiress was receiving special treatment. The Hiltons breezed past some waiting in line for hours to see loved ones….The visit angered some others who were waiting to see inmates. Shatani Alverson, 23, said she was hustled out of the visiting room at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility moments after her husband walked in because of the Hiltons. She was told to come back after lunch.
We’re guessing Paris was unsympathetic to the complaints of the little people. We can just imagine her saying, while gesturing grandly towards the vending machines, “Let them eat Tastykake.”
P.S. In case you’re curious, the final (and unsurprising) results of our Paris Hilton poll appear after the jump.
Hilton’s Parents Visit, Breeze Past Line [Associated Press]
Poo-hoo, she isn’t life of the potty [New York Daily News]
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skipping the line is not paris getting special treatment, thats paris' parents getting special treatment. what kind of jail would make billionaires wait in line for 4 hours for visitation?
There are two Americas.
Didn't her sister and her ex skip the line a few days ago as well?
who cares?
The other inmates?
In LA everyone is either in the entertainment business, pretends to be in the entertainment business, aspires to be in the entertainment business, or is working on a screen play or at least an idea for one.
The dream of everyone in LA is to be a PLAYER, and that applies to jail employees and cops as well. So, yea, celebrities and their rich parents are going to be well treated, and to go ahead of the rope line. Even at the LA County jail.
I mean, what do you think would happen if the Governator showed up? Wait in line for hours?
Re: the poll just to the left of the post box:
Don’t know who Fred Thompson is? Trial lawyer, actor (Hunt for Red October, law and Order), politician. Are you shitting me?
What are you kiddies doing in LS? Actually studying?
Not eating or using the bathroom for 3 days our of fear of being photographed while doing so? It kind of reminds me of the model who was killed in the movie Se7en to illustrate the sin of pride. Spacey's character cut off her nose and then glued a bottle of sleeping pills to one hand and a phone to the other. Anyone who saw the movie knows she didn't use the phone. I wonder if Paris remembers that scene.
from an economic perspective, it makes sense to allow some people to go to the front of the line assuming that they are willing to pay for it.
From an economic perspective, it makes sense to routinely euthanize old people.
So, let me get this straight:
You don't want pictures taken of you on the toilet in your jail cell, but you routinely omit underpants in your nighttime wardrobe and get out of cars like your dismounting a horse?
I guess she just needs the money shot to be on her terms.
Back to work, maggots!
11:01--You're confusing her with Brittany Spears.
Yeah, 11:01 -- or Lindsay Lohan, or KimberleyStewart, or...Paris Hilton. Oh.
Let's be realistic. Have any of you ever been on line at a jail? I have. Trust me. The people on those lines can be scary.
It would not be safe for the Hiltons to be exposed to that rif-raff for hours on end.
It's clear that they are being "whisked" past the line for security concerns, not because there are two Americas.
Reality bites, but it still exists. Get out of the utopian gutter people where "all men are created equal". That's just not real life.
I agree 11:44, there are many scary people online. That's why I am choosey about the sites I visit, and generally only post comments on ATL.
P.S. I didn't know that people in jail are allowed to be online. Must be a minimum security jail or something.
mmmm, Tastykake. god bless butterscotch krimpets.
"I mean, what do you think would happen if the Governator showed up? Wait in line for hours?"
hells no. he'd just drive his car though the front of the jail. he's done it before.
Do you think that the Hilton parents would be whisked through the line if Paris wasn't internationally known?
I'm saying, is it money, or Celebrity (captial C) that affords these people special treatment?
Aren't we all missing the point here? Ths Hilton's have money. The reasson everyone aspires to be rich is the have the privileges that wealth affords. We don't have two America, we have one America, where we are all equally allowed to get rich and enjoy the benefits of that richness. I'd hate to think I worked so hard to get rich, and not get any special treatment because of it. If things were supposed to be equal between the rich and the poor, why not just be poor? It's easier.
12:07, that is the most retarded thing I have ever read that wasn't written by Ayn Rand. Wait, are you Ayn Rand?
Ayn Rand would know how to properly employ apostrophes. On a more serious note, though, 12:07's post is the stupidest thing I have possibly ever read.
LOL at 12:10.
Again I say, let's make sure to see how much the Hiltons donate to Mr. Baca come election season, and make sure that fact shows up in the mainstream media.
If Baca doesn't win re-election, he can be a security guard for Hilton Hotels.
Make that HEAD of security for Hilton at $250K.
June 13, 2007 12:06 PM:
The justfication is, no doubt, "security concerns".
The problem here is why the hell is Paris Hilton a celebrity? There are plenty of skanky hos in LA
12:10 and 12:18 have demonstrated their inability to recognize sarcasm when they see it. Although, I suppose when you think everyone is dumber than you, you'll assume even a rediculous remark is serious. As for my inability to employ apostrophies, is it at least possible, in your mind, that the problem is actually that my fat thumbs aren't terribly good at employing the tiny keys of a blackberry? No of course not, not when you assume everyone is an idiot.
The reason the Hiltons were whisked through security is not because someone was pandering to them, it's because their presence creates a security risk in the prison. Prisons run on ROUTINE, and when high profile peoplel ike these come to visit their daughters, it can (and likely will) upset the routine because the people around them are more likely to break routine. It puts the guards and other employees at risk and it puts the other prisoners at risk. Safety dictates special circumstances. I'm sure the prison personnel would prefer 1) not to Have Paris there at all (as we saw when they let her go), or 2) deny her parents the right to visit at all. Since #2 is probably not constitutional, they have to go with option #3 -- get them in and out as fast as possible to re-establish the routine. Sorry, I'm not going to proofread this, so if I put a comma in the wrong place, or maybe even (God forbid) added a double space, or something, you'll just have to live with it.
June 13, 2007 05:53 PM:
But only Paris is named Hilton, rich, young, beautiful, and literally on the runways of Paris and Milan.
Money talks. And she is hardly camera shy.
June 13, 2007 02:49 PM: Grampa Hilton gave $1,000. That's it.
6:55, you nailed it. As someone who frequents jails, there is no way the jail wants to contend with the paparazzi swarming the jail and interfering with their operations. Other people may not want to be photographed or videotaped going into the jail.
Get em in and get em out.
Los Angeles Times
Hilton will do more time than most, analysis finds
By Jack Leonard and Doug Smith, LA Times Staff Writers
June 14, 2007
Paris Hilton will end up serving more time behind bars THAN THE VAST MAJORITY OF INMATES SENT TO L.A. COUNTY JAIL FOR SIMILAR OFFENSES, according to a Times analysis of jail records.
Whether Hilton received special treatment from the Sheriff's Department has become the subject of much debate since Sheriff Lee Baca last week allowed the hotel heiress to go home after less than four full days in jail, despite a promise that she would serve 23 days of a 45-day sentence.
The Times ANALYZED 2 MILLION JAIL RELEASES AND FOUND 1,500 CASES SINCE JULY 2002 THAT — LIKE HILTON'S — INVOLVED DEFENDANTS WHO HAD BEEN ARRESTED FOR DRUNK DRIVING AND LATER SENTENCED TO JAIL AFTER A PROBATION VIOLATION OR DRIVING WITHOUT A LICENSE.
Had Hilton left jail for good after FOUR DAYS, her stint behind bars WOULD HAVE BEEN SIMILAR TO THOSE SERVED BY 60% OF THOSE INMATES.
But after a judge sent her back to jail Friday, Hilton's attorney announced that she would serve the full 23 days. That means that HILTON WILL END UP SERVING MORE TIME THAN 80% OF OTHER PEOPLE IN SIMILAR SITUATIONS.
The findings came as some critics accused Baca of showing favoritism to Hilton and as the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors launched an investigation into whether the multimillionaire received special treatment because of her wealth and fame.
The data also underscore the profound effect of the Sheriff's Department's early-release program, which sets inmates free before their sentences are up to ease overcrowding.
Before the early-release program began in 2002, inmates with cases similar to Hilton's were sentenced to terms that amounted to an average of 23 days, the same as Hilton is expected to serve. They actually served 20 days. After the program began, the average term was 14 days, with inmates actually serving an average of four days.
Because of the high media interest, Hilton was one of only a few inmates whose premature release received publicity — and the judge who originally sentenced her noticed. She is believed to be the first inmate in years who actually was sent back to jail to serve more of her term.
"Twenty-three days would be considerably more than the average person given her sentence would actually serve," said Stan Goldman, professor of criminal law and procedure at Loyola Law School. "The jails are so overcrowded that even though overcrowding is not the reason for her release, it colors every release decision from the jails system."
Baca's release of Hilton because of undisclosed medical problems touched off a storm of protest. Last year, the department released only three inmates on medical grounds, a spokesman said.
One of the most vocal critics, civil rights activist Najee Ali, said Wednesday that Hilton ought to be released if inmates sentenced for similar crimes were serving less time. He continued to criticize Baca's decision to cite medical problems for the release, but added that only dangerous offenders should serve their full sentences given the jail's need to limit overcrowding.
"Clearly, her violation is not as serious, so she should be released," said Ali, director of Project Islamic Hope. "The rules of fairness should be applied equally."
Hilton was sentenced to 45 days for violating probation on alcohol-related, reckless-driving charges from an incident in September. Police stopped her while she was driving during the period that her license was suspended.
If Hilton does serve the 23 days, she will have done about the same amount of time as 4,000 inmates who since 2002 had been charged with assaults, as well as more than 1,800 charged with burglary, more than 2,600 charged with domestic violence and nearly 11,000 charged with drug violations.
Over the last five years, more than 200,000 inmates have been released early. Baca started the releases during a budget crunch that he said left him no choice but to shut large portions of the nation's largest county correctional system. Though economic times have since improved, a federal court has ordered his department to reduce chronic overcrowding in the jails, hampering efforts to keep inmates longer.
The Times' analysis of jail releases found that more than 60% of those with cases similar to Hilton's walked free after serving less than half their time. Under the department's current guidelines, Hilton probably would have served even less time. Most nonviolent female offenders sentenced to less than 90 days are released immediately.