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Does Paris Hilton Deserve Jail Time?
And Why is She Driving in the First Place?
Column by The Bartender, PubClub.com Columnist
The blonde babeshell had a blonde moment.
Caught with her pants down – oh, that's too easy of a pun, so let
me change that to caught driving with a suspended license – Paris
Hilton is facing several weeks in the 'ol jail cell.
Does she deserve it? Is she a victim of being a celebrity?
No. The fact of the matter is she doesn't live in reality, but when
finally faced with reality, she cracked.
 First,
she decided to take a spin with a suspended license. That's one strike
against her. (Then she blamed her publicist for giving her wrong information
on when she could drive; not surprisingly she and the publicist have
"parted ways" in Hollywood speak.) Actually, that's strike
two. Strike one was having a suspended license to begin with,
of course.
Then she shows up 18 minutes late for her court hearing. If anything,
she should have been 18 minutes early. So that's strike three
and she's out. Or in this case, she's in, as in prison. And did she
really think crying would help her cause?
To recap her stumbles that led to her 45 days at Century Regional Detention
Center in Lynwood – hardly the French Riviera – she pleaded
no contest to driving under the influence after she was pulled over
in Hollywood on Sept. 7 by LAPD officers for speeding and making an
illegal left turn. As part of her plea, Hilton's driving privileges
were suspended from Nov. 30 to March 31. But from December to March
she was pulled over three more times – including once for
making another illegal turn – and must now pay for her actions
(not quite the same as paying for things with a credit card).
As a motorist in L.A., let me say that frankly it's good to have one
obviously very poor and non-observant driver off our roads, if only
temporary. And what 's she doing driving in the first place? She's got
enough money to hire a full-time driver in a limo the size of a nightclub.
Obviously, her hands are better suited to be elsewhere than behind the
wheel of a vehicle.
The courts certainly don't want to send people to jail. It costs money
and facilities are overcrowded. That is why they give folks several
chances to avoid sentencing. But eventually they grow tired of the shenagins
and have no choice. That is the case with Paris Hilton and the judge
made the correct judgement.
Now Pairs is headed for prison – an all-women's jail. You can
just imagine the sex tape jokes already in the works.
Is she, as one celebrity media source told an LA TV station, a "spoiled
rich brat?" Or just another celebrity who figures the law doesn't
really apply to her? (Sadly, often it does not for celebrities, who
treat the law as it it's some kind of annoyance to be worried about
by the rest of the population.)
With Paris Hilton, it's more of the latter, most likely. While I certainly
don't know her personally, I do have a friend who was on the production
crew of The Simple Life. "She's always been nice and considerate
to everyone," he says. So maybe behind the scenes she's as normal
as a anyone of her statue and wealth can be but when she hits the "wild
mode" she goes overboard.
She's only 26. Considering some of the daredevil driving I did soon
after receiving my license, I'm blessed to have made it out of high
school. Add that blonde hair, good looks and inherited money that's
been growing like marijuana in Riverside, and there's bound to be some
outlandish experiences. (Just imagine the partying!)
Somewhere along the way, though, she should have picked up a bit of
common sense. Instead, Paris, welcome to reality.
The Bartender is a Los Angeles-based journalist and former award-winning
newspaper reporter. He an be reached at bartender@pubclub.com
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