johnnymk

Wow..what a revelation

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_611356...ce=most_viewed

LOS ANGELES—Paris Hilton is locking up her "dumb" act and throwing away the key.
Hilton revealed her new outlook in a weekend phone call to Barbara Walters from a county jail medical ward where she's serving out a 45-day sentence for violating probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case.

"I used to act dumb. It was an act. I am 26 years old, and that act is no longer cute," Hilton said during the call, according to an account posted by Walters on ABC's Web site.

"It is not who I am, nor do I want to be that person for the young girls who looked up to me," Hilton was quoted as saying.

After spending three days in jail last week, Hilton was briefly released to electronically monitored home confinement Thursday for an undisclosed medical condition. An outraged judge sent her back to jail Friday.

According to ABC News, the call came after Hilton's mother, Kathy, phoned Walters. During the conversation, Paris Hilton called her mother on another line, found out her mother was talking to Walters, and then called Walters collect. All jail inmates are required to call collect.

Hilton reiterated assertions that jail has changed her: "Now, I would like to make a difference. ... God has given me this new chance."

In a related development, the Rev. Al Sharpton met with Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca on Monday and told reporters afterward that Hilton's situation exemplified an unfair legal system.

"People who cannot afford the best lawyers, people who cannot afford the best doctors are not going to get an early release," Sharpton said.

Baca has denied giving any special treatment to Hilton by reassigning her to home detention.

Sharpton acknowledged the irony that the blond tabloid queen would be the one to raise these issues.

"I'm a preacher, and you can tell me that God has a sense of humor. Maybe this is an example," he said.

Also Monday, a claim against the county was announced by a black woman who has a prosthetic leg and was recently an inmate at the same jail where Hilton was held last week.

Her attorney, Gloria Allred, said client Pamela Richardson, 51, also "had serious medical issues" but was treated much worse than Hilton.

"It's not right that a young white celebrity female should receive the medical care that she needs in the L.A. County jail system, but an older African-American woman, who is not well known, receives inadequate and substandard medical treatment," Allred said.

A claim against a government entity is a precursor to a lawsuit.

Markel

Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse....

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DarkFury

In this case, he didn't make it any worse.

A spade is a spade in this case, and most folks seem to agree that "the rich folks" were getting some benefits that "non rich folks" usually don't get with regards to jail time.

/me ends my discussion of Al right there so as not to start any side arguements about his actions.

.... moving away from the topic ....

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VTGreg

I haven't seen the full context of his comments but Sharpton didn't appear to bring race into the equation. What he said is absolutely true. If you have the fame and the money, you get treated differently. It doesn't matter if it is in jail or at a restaurant.

I think the claim against the county goes much further than anything Al Sharpton commented on.

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MrGreg

Wouldn't it be amazing if it really was an act? What if Paris is actually reasonably smart and has been fooling us all. Imagine she gets released and quits the partying and night vision amateur porn and suddenly becomes a model citizen using her money and fame to better the world we live in. Wouldn't that just blow your mind?

Now I think the odds of that happening are somewhat less than my personal chances of meeting Natalie Portman at the grocery store, marrying her, and having lots of babies, but both scenarios are fun to think about.

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cheapie

i happen to agree with you here df. it's not right that the rich have different rules applied to them. while i'm not a fan of sharpton, maybe this is a good opportunity to bring the subject to light.

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TofuNinja

I agree, the rich get special passes that normal people don't get... but WHY did Al Sharpton have to stick his nose in this one. I hear that he is saying but just the fact that he interjected himself in this issue makes me roll my eyes, even though he is right. I mean come on...

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Napoleon54

Methinks Sharpton got involved because the other woman is black. If it was a poor white woman who filed the claim, I doubt we'd have heard from him.

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Napoleon54

Sorry to trash your happy thought, but that happened to me last night. So hands off. You could still hook up with the reformed Paris though... she was in the next aisle over.

VTGreg

I didn't see anything in the article where it tied Sharpton's meeting with Baca to claim filed by the black woman with the prosthetic leg.

Napoleon54

Yea you're right, it was just speculation on my part. I can't find any direct connection between Sharpton and the woman who filed the complaint. But here's more on Sharpton's involvement:


Linky

The poor part I agree with, I don't think anyone would dispute that point. But black? I think any high-profile rich black person would get the same treatment.

DarkFury

Nap... no offense, but you are being led into a trap that the writer of that article has set for ANYONE who gets distracted anytime Sharpton appears.

The title of the story is "Paris Hilton tells Barbara Walters acting dumb is no longer cute" not "Al Sharpton swoops in to save Black Woman who didn't get the same treatment as Paris Hilton".

This is my main criticism about how the media sensationalizes "non issues" in order to deflect the public's attention to what the real issue is.

It just appears to me that only 1/2 of this article actually focused on the subject upon which it was written... the rest totally diverges from that topic and goes into the same old "song and dance" over Sharpton and then turns it into a racial issue from there by highlighting the RACE of the woman versus just focusing on her "medical condition" for which she didn't get any "special treatment".

When are folks gonna realize that you are being played by the media... and that everytime Sharpton gets involved, you don't really have to give him any more attention that creates this mess in the first place?

Now truly, I don't wanna get into a Sharpton debate here... however it just seems to me that nobody else is trying to point out the media's irresponsibility by manupulating this situation (thus I'm trying to make that point obvious to those of you who don't see it.)

DarkFury

Lil' Kim just served one year in jail for contempt of court... she didn't get any special treatment and she's rich (at least by my "poor" standards )

I guess she just isn't as rich as Paris to have gotten it waived off.

Oprah's just too smart to do anything dumb enough to go to jail... and she's America's richest Black woman. But if she did happen to go to jail, i'd doubt that they would give her the same treatment as they gave Paris. (I guess time will have to tell in order to prove me right or wrong on that.)

TofuNinja

As much as we don't like seeing Al Sharpton he does tend to show up where he feels there is an injustice. In this case it was that Paris was released from Prison early because of her wealth (of because the Hiltons donate money to Baca's political fund, no idea). And as much as I don't like Al, I have to admit he is in a better position to request and be granted a meeting with Baca. Baca would just laugh at me. DF is right, this is nothing to do with race. It has everything to do with what people see as a miscarriage of justice and the bending of the rules for a rich person. To be fair AL Sharpton has not to MY knowledge defended Pacman Jones, or even asked to talk to the NFL about how unfair his punishment is. I could be wrong. Meaning he agrees, again I could be wrong here.

So let's shift back to the fact that Paris is a dumbass media whore who got herself into this position (so many jokes) and has to live with it. Who knows maybe she will change her ways...frankly as long as the news outlets stop covering her, I am happy. No more Paris, no more Lindsey, no more Brittney.

Hanwei0725

I'm waiting for my chance with Natalie Portman as soon as she leaves Napolean54 tomrrow. and Paris was in the next aisle over.....with the expired milk, dented cans, and open boxes of cereal...

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Is it me or does that snowman
look like he is pissing? haha, thats funny.

Natalie Portman - "Our lives can change with every breath we take" --Where the Heart Is.

My Saying - "Natalie Portman is HOT." -- True Story.

Houdini

Actually, not to split hairs, but according to today's news, the richest black woman is the co-founder of BET - worth over a billion. She's supporting Obama - states she likes Hillary, but just wants a black POTUS. Her ex-husband (who's also wealthy) is supporting Hillary.

DarkFury

U serious?

Hell... I need to marry her.... since Dave Chappelle got dibs on Oprah...


I'm REEEEEEYAATTTCH BEEEEEEEYAAAATCH!!!!


BTW... where did you get that info from? According to Wikapedia (I know, I know... not always a credible source...):


also...

http://www.showbuzz.cbsnews.com/stor...n2371280.shtml

VTGreg

Wasn't Bob Johnson the sole founder of BET?

DarkFury

Actually that's what I was thinking too...
that's why I wanted a link to the article if there was one.

gwilks98

What would you do to change it? Force everyone to go through a public defender?
If Lawyers charge based on the value of services they provide, and not all lawyers are as gifted as others, then naturally, the rich will afford the best lawyers and propose the best arguments to protech their clients. I doubt it was Paris that talked her way out of jail, but her law team.

As much as I despise the rich for having access to something I don't, I can't do jack about it because that's the system. It's not going to change.

Sharpton's playing to the crowd, be it black and/or poor. He's had plenty of run-ins with the law where he used his money to acquire preferential treatment. He's also raised plenty of money to see to it that poor black suspects get preferential treatment.

He's guilty of his own complaint. Yup, don't care much for him.

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DarkFury

Do you REALLY believe that this is all that it is about?

In many cases, it's not that the Rich person's lawyer is really that much better at law. They just seem to be better at lying and manipulating the legal process for their client in exploiting loopholes for which the more wealthy have access than the poor.

On top of that, using "celebrity" to provide additional leverage and favor with with the dispensers of justice comes in to play as well. A poor person just can't pay off enough people to "look the other way" when their day in court comes, and obviously "the system" has no problem throwin' the book at these relative "unknowns" versus the pampering they seem to give these celebrities.

A rich person's lawyer might be good (I'll give them that), but honestly, many of them become celebrities in their own right and thus only another celebrity can afford their services.

Heh... funny thing is, when Johnny Cochran was alive many a courtroom prosecutor was afraid of him... and what he could do to reduce the charges against his clients. This is not to say that his clients could perform the same "magic" that Paris had done during her run in with the legal system . (I'm sure that if Snoop had went to jail... his folks wouldn't just walk to the front of the line on visiting day. Nor would he be able to complain that his "blankets were scratchy" and get let out of jail on house arrest because he didn't like being there. Believe that! )

The sherriff acted OUTSIDE the instructions of the court... thus it just appears that he was being influenced by the celebrity directly...

Now all that aside... you do provide an interesting concept. What if you couldn't choose a "high profile" lawyer? What if the court system had to sanction and certify all lawyers and assigned them to you? (this is hypothetically speaking of course...) Currently, you can't pick the judge for the case, so hypothetically it's not too far off to think that a court appointed lawyer could represent you as well. That possibly might change things as far as how law is dispensed... but course the rich would probably complain fiercely about this. If something like this were to happen, the salaries of the lawyers would probably have to increase/decrease by their proven performance track record and application of their knowledge of the law to their cases win or lose (a truly GUILTY person shouldn't be able to buy their way out of a judgement... bottom line.)

My point is... the legal system shouldn't be able to be BOUGHT or influenced by celebrity, but yet that totally appears to be the way that it is currently and that is what our main complaint is about.

Liberty and Justice for all who can afford it!

oblongmelon

Do we really need to keep talking about Paris/lawyers/judges/etc..it's boring already. Why give that idiot any more press than she already gets?

zippyjuan

She is just a symbol of the spoilled/ rich. If she had the best lawyer in the world, would she be in jail for 45 days on a driving without a licence charge? I actually believe that she has both received better and worse treatment in this case because of who she is. The sheriff is trying to treat her better and the judge is perhaps treating her worse than an average person to make "an example" of her. An average citizen would probably get an early release because they would be considered low risk and then free up jail space for more serious criminals.

And in other Paris news, she is now back into her regular cell.

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VTGreg

If she weren't a celebrity she probably wouldn't have been sent back to jail due to the media circus but she also probably wouldn't have been released after 3 days without her celebrity status.

As far as her sentence is concerned, she received a 45 day suspended sentence for driving drunk. I don't believe that is too far from the sentence a normal person gets. Then after she violated her probation (it turns out she violated it multiple times but was let off with a warning) she was forced to serve out the suspended sentence. Again, this punishment is not outside of the usual punishment for violating parole and the conditions of her suspended sentence.

DarkFury

I can see your point, but seriously a "regular" person who gets sentenced for this type of crime usually gets WAY more than 23 days even with good behaviour.

For example... I have a friend who recently got busted for having a few weed cigs on him. Originally, they gave him the choice of paying $1,000 or serving 30 days in jail... so he chose the jail time since he works a seasonal job and the time being served would be in off season. Well, somehow... when he went back to the judge to pick his punishment, the judge got angry that he chose the jail time to the fine and then sentenced him to 90 days in jail which he just finished serving about a month ago.

When I last spoke to him, I was like... "Why were you gone for 90 days" and he was like... "Judge didn't like the fact that I'd choose the jail time over the fine... so he gave me MORE time." My friend wasn't a violent person and he didn't get any "reduced time" for good behavior... he just sat in jail for 90 days. That is being a REGULAR person. Honestly, I find it quite LAUGHABLE that they even give "good behavior" time on sentences that are less than 6 months in length... That must mean that California jails are WAY overpopulated to give such an incentive.

On a side note, I found this little nugget of info...

http://www.duicentral.com/dui/california_dui_laws.html


Judge could have given Paris 6 months of jail time, but went pretty easy on her with 45 down to 23 with good behavior. On top of that... SHE VIOLATED PROBATION!!! If a normal person does that, they get put UNDER the jail... Believe that! You can't go messin' around with the court system like that, they will hurt you bad. Pretty much they have only used the "kid gloves" on Paris, yet... being a spoiled rich brat she has still cried her way into getting somewhat preferrential treatment even though she didn't get the full release.

Honestly, it really does set a bad example for the Justice system, since now in this high profile case, their flaws in sentencing and punishment have been clearly exposed.

Also... on top of all this, have you guys heard about the "Out-of-Jail" party Paris' dad is thinking about throwing for his little "jailbird"? Geez... this is sickening. You'd think she had been locked away for years or something...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/...n2917777.shtml


Just UNBELIEVEABLE I tell ya... (but then again, with these fools, I actually can believe it. )

MrGreg

That sure doesn't seem like it should be legal. Certainly isn't fair.

DarkFury

Legal or not... he still ended up doing the time.

I asked him about it and he said... "Well... at least for those three months I saved on my bills (he lives with his folks) and since I wasn't working anyway, it was better than me paying $1,000 that I didn't have to spend."

Pretty odd way of lookin' at jail time... but hey, I guess for some folks it's more equitable that way.

johnnymk

Houdini

Here's the article, and I was wrong. She's the FIRST female black billionaire, not the richest. Oops.

Either way, she's loaded.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics...llionaire.html

DarkFury

Oh well...

I guess this guy beat me to it...



Sheila Johnson got remarried to Arlington County Circuit Court Judge William T. Newman Jr. on September 25, 2005

Well dayuum...

Of course he has a BIG smile on his face.... he just hit the friggin' JACKPOT!!!!