Judge in Paris Hilton Case

[Aggrad02]

I haven't really followed this case because I can careless what happens to Paris Hilton. But I was a little surprised when they let her out early yesterday and even more surprised today when the judge sent her back, it has become some kind of legal circus.

Our government is made up of checks and balances and separation of powers between the branches of government. In Hilton's case the judge deemed her guilty of violating her probation and sentenced her to 45 days in jail and released her into the custody of the sheriff's department, which was responsible for caring out the sentence. The judge judges and sentences, the sheriff's department enforces.

After three days in jail the sheriff's department determined that due to some as yet to be unidentified illness, that they would release Hilton to home confinement with an ankle bracelet to finish her sentence. The sheriff was still enforcing the sentence. Today the judge decided that he did not approve of the way the sheriff was enforcing the sentence and decided to bring Hilton back to court where he informed her he was sending her back to jail to to finish her sentence instead.

So which branch of government is overreaching their powers? The sheriff who decided to enforce the sentence the way he saw fit (and within the law) or the judge who wanted the sentence to be carried out one specific way within the law. Should the sheriff be held in contempt of court? Should the judge be investigated by an ethics panel for interfering with enforcement?

Where does the rights of Paris Hilton stand in all of this? Is it ethical to be shifting someone around while the judge and the sheriff have a power struggle. Hilton was very emotionally shaken because of all of this, and this shouldn't have happened. Also the judge requested medical documents from the sheriff's department, and the sheriff didnot provide any in a timely manner for the judge. This is not Hilton's fault, is it ethical to send someone back to jail because another branch of government was derelic? What will happen if Hilton is truly ill and something happens because of her confinement?

--Dustan

[Jonathan]

Which illnesses could Hilton possibly have which would prevent her from completing her sentence in jail?

[James Heaps-Nelson]

Which illnesses could Hilton possibly have which would prevent her from completing her sentence in jail?

An aversion to jailhouse food. Somebody didn't cut off the crusts of her PB&J sandwich for lunch and they didn't serve the caviar at the right temperature for dinner :-).

Jim

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Jonathan,

I read in the news somewhere that Hilton's malady is that she did not eat jail food. (Seriously.)

NOTE: This observation crossed with Jim's.

I also wonder which medical condition she had that could not be handled by the medical facilities of the county jail.

I am a bit jaded on looking at these kinds of cases. In addition to the points raised by Dustan, there is also corrupting influence of power that gets a boost when celebrities are involved.

I have no idea why LA County Sheriff Lee Baca released her. I suspect some personal benefit somewhere, but it just might be the media attention. He most definitely seems to be a person who likes the limelight and has made a career out of being involved with celebrities.

The relatively obscure judge, Michael T. Sauer, also jumped into a limelight like he had never known before when he sentenced Hilton. He might not have sought this, but all the attention does mess with the ego. I would not be surprised if he gives her an undue amount of attention in the future.

City attorney Rocky Delgadillo (who filed for putting Hilton back in jail) has been involved with celebrities also. Ditto about possible future attention.

The traditional temptations and corrupting influences are sex, money and power. Our checks and balances are designed to contain these temptations in a person exercising public office. I wonder if it is possible to find something for media attention.

Actually, there are practical results from a huge amount of media attention: sex, money and power.

Michael

[Jonathan]

Which illnesses could Hilton possibly have which would prevent her from completing her sentence in jail?

An aversion to jailhouse food. Somebody didn't cut off the crusts of her PB&J sandwich for lunch and they didn't serve the caviar at the right temperature for dinner :-).

Jim

But seriously, is it common for prisoners to be sent home for "medical reasons" even if a judge has specifically ordered that they are to do their time in jail and not to be allowed to spend it under house detention? Which types of medical conditions are jails not equipped to handle, or which types have gotten non-celebrities early releases? Diabetes? AIDS? Cancer?

[Chris Grieb]

I am reminded that Richard Paey is still serving a 25 year sentence in the state of Florida for having too many prescriptions. Richard Paey is in a wheelchair which he can not leave. Miss Hilton is upset because she has to serve her 45 days in the city jail after she violated probation and placed others in danger with her driving. She should serve all 45 days!

[James Heaps-Nelson]

This reminds me of a story a coworker once told me about someone caught going over 100 mph in an out of state BMW in Wyoming. When the guilty party appeared before the judge he whined because the judge had ordered him to spend 48 hours in the county jail. The judge simply brought the gavel and said 30 days .

Jim

[Aggrad02]

I am reminded that Richard Paey is still serving a 25 year sentence in the state of Florida for having too many prescriptions. Richard Paey is in a wheelchair which he can not leave. Miss Hilton is upset because she has to serve her 45 days in the city jail after she violated probation and placed others in danger with her driving. She should serve all 45 days!

I believe like you do that she should probably serve all 45 days, but it is really disgusting how the parites envolved have handled the case. Hilton is the ony one who seemed to act (in the beginning) like an adult. She showed up, didn't complain and started doing her time. The sheriff sent her home. Then the judges throws her back in jail. I can understand why she would be emotionally upset. It also wasn't like she was being released early, she was sent to home confinement, basically imprisonment at home. I know this isn't as harsh as imprisonment at jail, but still fullfils the sentence. If this was another person the judge wouldn't have worried about it.

[Chris Grieb]

All parties should have realized that the treatment of Miss Hilton was going to be watched. Any early release would be talked about in the press. Do I understand there will be another hearing next week.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Dustan,

That jaded little self that sits on my left shoulder whispering in my ear also asks what went on behind the scenes (probably with the parents) and whether Paris Hilton's hysterics weren't also because whatever it was didn't work.

Michael

[Aggrad02]

Dustan,

That jaded little self that sits on my left shoulder whispering in my ear also asks what went on behind the scenes (probably with the parents) and whether Paris Hilton's hysterics weren't also because whatever it was didn't work.

Michael

That jaded little self is probably right. Maybe that is why Paris didn't seem too concerned in the first place and maybe the reason that the sheriff didn't submit the medical papers that the judge ordered. Maybe they weren't any medical conditions to report. But if that was the case then I think the judge should have punished the sheriff as well. I'm sure that with a little time and all of the press coverage things will be brought to light.

Dustan

[BAMF]

This whole thing is just ridiculous. These judges need to quit effing around and Paris needs to serve her sentence.

Sara Silverman said it best when she blasted Paris at the MTV Movie Awards: PWNT.

Absolutely priceless.

(BTW: Some people were outraged by this shot at Paris, saying, "That was a little harsh." These people have obviously never seen how much of a horrible person Paris is.)

[Michael Russell]

This whole thing is just ridiculous. These judges need to quit effing around and Paris needs to serve her sentence.

Sara Silverman said it best when she blasted Paris at the MTV Movie Awards: PWNT.

Absolutely priceless.

(BTW: Some people were outraged by this shot at Paris, saying, "That was a little harsh." These people have obviously never seen how much of a horrible person Paris is.)

The Sara Silverman link on youtube has been removed. Here's one that should work: Sara Silverman at the MTV Movie Awards

[Michael Russell]

I have no idea why LA County Sheriff Lee Baca released her. I suspect some personal benefit somewhere, but it just might be the media attention. He most definitely seems to be a person who likes the limelight and has made a career out of being involved with celebrities.

In all seriousness, Sheriff Baca should have been held in contempt for violating a court order.

Mick

[Brant Gaede]

The LA County jail is very overcrowded. Inmates like Hilton typically serve ten percent of their sentence in the jail. In Maricopa County, Arizona the sheriff simply put up a lot of tents. Gets pretty hot in the summer, to say the least.

--Brant

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Dustan,

There is a wonderful quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald that is particularly pertinent here. It is from a short story (and it almost reads like a Roaring 20's male version of Paris Hilton's spoiled rich-kid life. I had known the quote for a long time, but not the story. I just read the story (the full version). I am really glad I did. It is such a marvelous thing to be touched by genuine talent, even in a tale of unhappiness.

Full story: The Rich Boy
Summary with commentary: F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Rich Boy"

Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand. They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves. Even when they enter deep into our world or sink below us, they still think that they are better than we are. They are different.

With Objectivism, we have so much focus on providing a moral justification for wealth that we forget that most wealthy people are just people. Some react well and others become spoiled.

I have met people who fit the above description to a tee. Even if they lose everything, they somehow imagine that they are innately superior to the rest of mankind. There is no merit involved in this sentiment, only upbringing. This gets really irritating to be around, so I personally avoid people like that. I usually end up shooting off my mouth and ticking them off, anyway.

I believe Ms. Hilton shows signs of becoming a real-life Anson Hunter (the protagonist of the story). A month or so in the clinker might be a wake-up call to reevaluate her life and her reach, but I doubt it. I see great loneliness in her old age. (I speculate, I know, but hell, I felt like thinking out loud.)

Michael

[Aggrad02]

Dustan,

There is a wonderful quote by F. Scott Fitzgerald that is particularly pertinent here. It is from a short story (and it almost reads like a Roaring 20's male version of Paris Hilton's spoiled rich-kid life. I had known the quote for a long time, but not the story. I just read the story (the full version). I am really glad I did. It is such a marvelous thing to be touched by genuine talent, even in a tale of unhappiness.

Full story: The Rich Boy
Summary with commentary: F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Rich Boy"

Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft where we are hard, and cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand. They think, deep in their hearts, that they are better than we are because we had to discover the compensations and refuges of life for ourselves. Even when they enter deep into our world or sink below us, they still think that they are better than we are. They are different.

With Objectivism, we have so much focus on providing a moral justification for wealth that we forget that most wealthy people are just people. Some react well and others become spoiled.

I have met people who fit the above description to a tee. Even if they lose everything, they somehow imagine that they are innately superior to the rest of mankind. There is no merit involved in this sentiment, only upbringing. This gets really irritating to be around, so I personally avoid people like that. I usually end up shooting off my mouth and ticking them off, anyway.

I believe Ms. Hilton shows signs of becoming a real-life Anson Hunter (the protagonist of the story). A month or so in the clinker might be a wake-up call to reevaluate her life and her reach, but I doubt it. I see great loneliness in her old age. (I speculate, I know, but hell, I felt like thinking out loud.)

Michael

Michael I mostly agree with you. I am not a fan of Paris Hilton nor do I hate her. I don't even know her, or pay attention to her antics and press coverage. I have two problems with what went on. The first is that the action of the justice department in L.A. (whether it was the sheriff's fault or the judges or maybe the city prosecutor) have been ridiculous. I am sure there has been lots of pressure from the media, her parents/connections, her fans and the people that hate her, so the decisions are greatly influenced, but that is where the blind eye of justice should triumph. The judge was right in his sentence, and the sheriff was probably right in letting her out to house arrest. But ego and politics get involved and it turned into a circus.

Also people should be treated as people. No matter how degrading you make think her sex life his, it is hers. That joke/comment by Silverman makes my blood boil. To attack someone like that in public is just uncalled for. In elementary school I was picked on continously because I was "fat" and it the way that it made me feel was horrible and I would never wish that on anyone. Also throwing her in jail and then taking her out and then throwing her back in again is not how we should treat people. Did she commit a crime, yes. Did she deserve her sentence, yes. Does she deserve to be treated like a political yo-yo. No one should be treated this way.

Also it seems the people who hate/wish her to be humiliated are jealous. Why else would you get pleasure from this. If someone is self-confident then they shouldn't be affected by the Paris Hiltons of the world.

For everyone who is getting pleasure out of this can you please tell me why? Is it because you are jealous of her attractiveness, her wealth, her publicity? Are you transferring you hate of someone like her from your high school days?

Sorry for the rant, but that Silverman piece really ticked me off,

Dustan

[Aggrad02]

Also here is another question:

What philosophically can anyone come up with that they don't like about Paris Hilton?

Some would probably liken her to the playboy version that Fransico D'Acona fabricated in Atlas. But that is not true.

Even though she is an heiress, she has many business ventures of her own as well as being an actress, singer, author and designer. She has basically turned her name into a brand. Last year she earned $7 million dollars. How easy would it be for someone who is set to inherit all of that money to sit around and do nothing.

From her actions she clearly put her self-interest first.

Also I've never heard her harm anyone, most of the people around find success as well.

--Dustan

[Jonathan]

Also here is another question:

What philosophically can anyone come up with that they don't like about Paris Hilton?

Some would probably liken her to the playboy version that Fransico D'Acona fabricated in Atlas. But that is not true.

Even though she is an heiress, she has many business ventures of her own as well as being an actress, singer, author and designer. She has basically turned her name into a brand. Last year she earned $7 million dollars. How easy would it be for someone who is set to inherit all of that money to sit around and do nothing.

From her actions she clearly put her self-interest first.

Also I've never heard her harm anyone, most of the people around find success as well.

--Dustan

I, for one, have nothing against Hilton. I really don't know much about her. I neither like nor dislike her. I haven't seen any of her talents or her brand items. Any time that a celebrity who is first famous for being famous then becomes a singer, actress, author or designer, I generally assume that I'm not going to be blown away by their "talents" (I usually suspect that their "designer" status means that they have done little more than select items largely designed by others). I've had no interest in discovering if there's any value in anything that she has created or put her name on.

Although she seems to be quite the publicity seeker, and I've gotten the sense from some of her public antics that she is incapable of feeling humiliation, I'm not sitting around hoping that she'll feel it now.

I posted on this thread only to discover if anyone knew if she was being treated differently than others. If it's common that others in the same circumstances are released to home detention, that's fine with me. If she actually has a serious medical condition that her jailers can't deal with, and others are released for similar reasons, again, fine with me.

J

[Chris Grieb]

What is Paris Hilton's relationship to Conrad Hilton? What is her relationship to Nicky Hilton? Nicky Hilton was Elizabeth Taylor's first husband and died fairly young off alcoholism. My question is does the Hilton clan have a problem with alcohol abuse. Does anyone know.

My hope would be that Ms Hilton will began to look at her problems and do better.

Final point I absolutely do not consider Ms Hilton a failure of the justice system.

Edited June 9, 2007 by Chris Grieb

[Aggrad02]

What is Paris Hilton's relationship to Conrad Hilton? What is her relationship to Nicky Hilton? Nicky Hilton was Elizabeth Taylor's first husband and died fairly young off alcoholism. My question is does the Hilton clan have a problem with alcohol abuse. Does anyone know.

My hope would be that Ms Hilton will began to look at her problems and do better.

Final point I absolutely do not consider Ms Hilton a failure of the justice system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_hilton

Born in New York City, New York, Hilton is the oldest of four children of Richard and Kathy Hilton. Her younger sister is Nicky Hilton, and her younger brothers are Barron Hilton II, and Conrad Hilton III. On the maternal side of her family, Hilton is a niece of two child stars of the 1970s, Kim Richards and Kyle Richards. By marriage, she also is related to Zsa Zsa Gabor and Elizabeth Taylor. Her paternal grandparents are hotel chairman Barron Hilton, and his wife, the former Marilyn Hawley; Hilton's paternal great-grandparents were Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton and his first wife, Mary Barron. When Conrad Hilton died in 1979, he left nothing in his will to his children or other descendants. Barron Hilton contested this decision and prevailed in court in 1988. The value of Paris's inheritance has been variously estimated at between $30 and $50 million.[1][2]

Hilton moved between several exclusive homes in her youth, including a suite in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, Beverly Hills, and the Hamptons. She attended her freshman year of high school in Rancho Mirage, California at the Marywood-Palm Valley School and her sophomore and junior years of high school at the Dwight School in New York, but dropped out,[3] and eventually earned a GED.[4]

[Richard Uhler]

What philosophically can anyone come up with that they don't like about Paris Hilton?

Not only does she act stupidly without consequence, she seems to feel entitled to it; this pisses a lot of people off. I don't guess that's a philosophical issue, but I think it explains some of the off-with-her-head attitude we're seeing.

Even though she is an heiress, she has many business ventures of her own as well as being an actress, singer, author and designer. She has basically turned her name into a brand.

Is she a *good* singer, or actress, or whatever? She has generated a lot of revenue, but by spewing out a lot of lowest-common-denominator crap for celebrity-worshippers. Not worth my respect.

I should say that I don't view PH with any real rancor or resentment; generally she's been of no interest to me one way or the other. She should certainly serve her full sentence, esp. since she blew her chance to act like an adult by violating her probation; but there are a lot worse people than PH out there who have walked. E.G. if PH has to face consequneces, so should O.J. Simpson have done.

[Aggrad02]

Not only does she act stupidly without consequence.

Examples?

[Chris Grieb]

Isn't she charged with driving with a suspended license. That's not the brightest thing I have ever heard of.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Dustan,

About Paris Hilton per se, I am about all said out. I do agree with you about the unfairness of the reactions. There is something really ugly there.

Before talking about the ugliness, I want to admit to getting a chuckle out of the Silverman quips in a bawdy kind of manner. That is because I take into account that Hilton actively cultivated a nymphomaniac image through her antics. She not only allowed that reputation to unfold, she seems to like it. I would have been outraged if Silverman's comment had been made about Laura Bush or Angelina Jolie or any number of women who have not sought that reputation.

On introspecting deeply about this, I did not find any pleasure in the "kick her while she is down" part of the quip. That part made me uncomfortable. I harbor the benevolence of the typical American good guy who likes to help out when he can when someone gets into deep trouble and who gets really mad at a person who takes pleasure in the misfortune of others. On that basis, I share your feelings about the Silverman quips.

Now we come to the sense of life of the public issue. There is a quote from the Introduction to Night of January 16th that is pertinent to the media circus now unfolding, including many of the spiteful comments about Hilton's fate. I agree with those that state that justice should be equal for all and irritation about the fact that the super-rich seem to be a bit more equal than the rest of us, to paraphrase Orwell, or even your comments from the other end about power games resulting in undue punishment, but none of that seems to be as prevalent as the outright envy I detect. Here is Rand's quote. It is self-explanatory.

The springboard for the story was the collapse of Ivar Kreuger—or, more precisely, the public reaction to that collapse.

On March 12, 1932, Ivar Kreuger, the Swedish "Match King," committed suicide. His death was followed by the crash of the vast financial empire he had created, and by the revelation that that empire was a gigantic fraud. He had been a mysterious figure, a "lone weft," celebrated as a man of genius, of unswerving determination and spectacular audacity. His fall was like an explosion that threw up a storm of dust and muck—a storm of peculiarly virulent denunciations.

It was not his shady methods, his ruthlessness, his dishonesty that were being denounced, but his ambition. His ability, his self-confidence, the glamorous aura of his life and name were featured, exaggerated, overstressed, to serve as fodder for the hordes of envious mediocrities rejoicing at his downfall. It was a spree of gloating malice. Its leitmotif was not: "How did he fall?" but: "How did he dare to rise?" Had there been a world press at the time of Icarus and Phaethon, this was the kind of obituary they would have received.

In fact, Ivar Kreuger was a man of unusual ability who had, at first, made a fortune by legitimate means; it was his venture into politics—mixed, economy politics—that destroyed him. Seeking a world monopoly for his match industry, he began to give large loans to various European governments in exchange for a monopoly status in their countries—loans which were not repaid, which he could not collect and which led him to a fantastic juggling of his assets and bookkeeping in order to conceal his losses. In the final analysis, it was not Kreuger who profiteered on the ruin of the investors he had swindled; the profiteers were sundry European governments. (But when governments pursue such policies, it is not called a swindle: it is called "deficit financing.")

At the time of Kreuger's death, it was not the political aspects of his story that interested me, but the nature of those public denunciations. It was not a crook that they were denouncing, but greatness as such; it was greatness as such that I wanted to defend.

This, then, was my assignment in Night of January 16th: to dramatize the sense of life that was vaguely symbolized by Ivar Kreuger, and set it against the sense of life blatantly revealed by his attackers.

When we laugh at Paris Hilton, or criticize her, or even lust after her in many cases, we need to be careful to see if there is some envy in our souls that needs to be addressed and fixed. Hilton may not be the ideal symbol of greatness, but her beauty, wealth, influence and the constant flaunting of disdain for public mores certainly are. On looking inside myself, I see that those are precisely some of the qualities I admire in her.

Michael