Great story, Nicole. I'm glad dug an interesting nugget out of the Paris mess.
I had never heard from the sheriff or considered any justification for releasing paris (beyond her "illness") until now. When you frame the story with the lack of adequate housing and the poor living conditions in jails, Baca's decision doesn't seem so wrongheaded. Overcrowding has apparently led the sheriff to release more than 200,000 inmates early over the last five years, "including some who ended up committing murders and other serious crimes when they otherwise would have been behind bars." Hey, it's better to let Paris Hilton serve her sentence out at home than have her taking up someone's spot who goes out and kills someone.
But I'm not convinced. Many Americans, especially less privileged ones, lack faith in the criminal justice system and believe it's biased towards the rich and famous. Whether that's true or not (I happen to think it is; my guess is superduperficial can provide the other side) it's certainly not a healthy perception for the public to have. Releasing a multi-millionaire after serving what was essentially a day where someone else might serve nearly a month then having the story dominate the news can't be good for changing that mindset.
I think we mostly agree the rich and famous shouldn't be automatically given "get out of jail free" cards. But on a practical level, there is some support for selling them "get out of jail free" cards. Link
It's the abovementioned problem of what such a system does to the public's faith in our justice system that keeps me wanting to see Paris behind bars.
No, I didn't mean to imply I think she should have been released for that reason. I think as you said it's better for her to serve her time if only for the public's perception (and to teach her a lesson too). I just thought it brought up interesting points regarding those cases in general (who gets let out early, why and who decides and by what measures exactly). I should have elaborated; I was just being lazy and wanted to post the article.
In her case it was less justified also because from what I read there wasn't any solid proof of a medical condition anyway besides her freaking out about going to jail. In the mean time, there are many nonviolent offenders in jail with serious medical conditions who aren't let out to take care of them; one example another article gave was about a woman who had fibroids which is pretty serious, especially if untreated.
The selling of get out of jail free cards actually isn't a bad idea at all but I think there should be more options also, like either pay x amount of dollars or do x amount of community service so non-violent offenders of all social classes have an alternative to serving time in jail.
I'm not a Republican, Zach. :) In fact, I think economic class is one of the primary dividing lines in America today, and the poor and marginalized face severe inequities in our justice system.
In this case, it does appear that Paris is serving more time than an average person would *for her particular infraction*, but I don't necessarily mind that. There are extenuating circumstances - namely, that the defendant is internationally famous for being a stupid, spoiled brat. It may not be 'right', in whatever neat definition, to throw the book at her, but it's sure as hell fun.
I know that generalizations can't be made from a couple of cases, but I have two friends who each did the same thing as Hilton and faced the exact same consequences. So maybe its not just because of who she is. Not that this matters in the grand scheme of things.
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I had never heard from the sheriff or considered any justification for releasing paris (beyond her "illness") until now. When you frame the story with the lack of adequate housing and the poor living conditions in jails, Baca's decision doesn't seem so wrongheaded. Overcrowding has apparently led the sheriff to release more than 200,000 inmates early over the last five years, "including some who ended up committing murders and other serious crimes when they otherwise would have been behind bars." Hey, it's better to let Paris Hilton serve her sentence out at home than have her taking up someone's spot who goes out and kills someone.
But I'm not convinced. Many Americans, especially less privileged ones, lack faith in the criminal justice system and believe it's biased towards the rich and famous. Whether that's true or not (I happen to think it is; my guess is superduperficial can provide the other side) it's certainly not a healthy perception for the public to have. Releasing a multi-millionaire after serving what was essentially a day where someone else might serve nearly a month then having the story dominate the news can't be good for changing that mindset.
I think we mostly agree the rich and famous shouldn't be automatically given "get out of jail free" cards. But on a practical level, there is some support for selling them "get out of jail free" cards. Link
It's the abovementioned problem of what such a system does to the public's faith in our justice system that keeps me wanting to see Paris behind bars.
In her case it was less justified also because from what I read there wasn't any solid proof of a medical condition anyway besides her freaking out about going to jail. In the mean time, there are many nonviolent offenders in jail with serious medical conditions who aren't let out to take care of them; one example another article gave was about a woman who had fibroids which is pretty serious, especially if untreated.
The selling of get out of jail free cards actually isn't a bad idea at all but I think there should be more options also, like either pay x amount of dollars or do x amount of community service so non-violent offenders of all social classes have an alternative to serving time in jail.
I'm not a Republican, Zach. :) In fact, I think economic class is one of the primary dividing lines in America today, and the poor and marginalized face severe inequities in our justice system.
In this case, it does appear that Paris is serving more time than an average person would *for her particular infraction*, but I don't necessarily mind that. There are extenuating circumstances - namely, that the defendant is internationally famous for being a stupid, spoiled brat. It may not be 'right', in whatever neat definition, to throw the book at her, but it's sure as hell fun.