When I heard that Paris Hilton was released from the Century Regional Detention Center earlier this morning after serving only three days of her original 45-day jail sentence, I was pissed off. Seriously. Really pissed off. Quite frankly, I’m surprised that some random lawyer with a craving for equality and justice — or, at the very least, a craving for attention — hasn’t filed a class-action lawsuit charging discrimination on behalf of the many inmates who didn’t receive the “special treatment” that Paris reportedly received. That aside, I want to talk about the other issue that’s key to Paris Hilton’s case: drunk driving. Wait, wait, wait. Hear me out on this one. Now, I must admit that I debated about whether I should post this. Drunk driving isn’t a sexy topic, and it’s not something that crosses my mind on a regular basis. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not going to moralize here. I certainly get drunk. With my friends. On a regular basis. I just don’t drive while drunk.
Last year, more than 17,000 people died from alcohol-related crashes according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That’s almost six times the number of people who died in the attacks on September 11, 2001. Over at BlogHer, Catherine Morgan — a single mother of two — comments, “[The media coverage] should NOT be about Paris Hilton, it should be about drunk driving.” I couldn’t agree with Catherine more. Yes, Paris drove while drunk. But, let us not forget that she was originally slapped on the wrist with probation for doing so. It was only after she violated her probation that she was sent to jail — a place that’s supposed to be so scary, isolating and alienating that it makes people reflect on the crime that they committed. But, Paris has now been released. And, that kind of makes me mad.
Speaking of getting mad, where the hell are the Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in all of this? Even though they’ve announced that the number of alcohol-related traffic deaths is the highest it’s been in 15 Years, as of the time of this post, they have yet to strongly condemn Hilton for her criminal behavior. (And, no, that pithy little statement of disappointment issued after Paris’ initial arrest doesn’t count.) Hmm … Are we left to believe that MADD agrees with Paris’ initial assessment of her drunk driving? “It was nothing,” she told Ryan Seacrest on KIIS-FM.
Well, at any rate, at least one person should be happy with Paris’ release. Her mother, Kathy Hilton. According to TMZ (the source of all things good and holy), when Paris was initially sentenced to jail her mother fumed something like, ‘I can’t believe this. I can’t believe this [...] And after all the money we spent!’ Now, now, Kathy. Rest assured. After serving less than 10% of her full sentence, Paris Hilton is home. And, she is safe. I guess I can only hope that the same safety befalls the folks riding in cars on the California freeways should Paris decide to drive drunk yet again.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Disgusting, all of it…and there are quite a few people who think the whole “being charged for violating probation thing” was ridiculous. I guess the ramifications of drunk driving doesn’t resonate with them?
On a lighter note, let’s get all the celebs off the roads! Why can’t any of these folks seem to drive, anyway? :)
You’re funny!! By the way, hat tip to you for the initial comment about MADD. When you mentioned it, I was like, “yeah, where the hell *are* they???”
On another note … a commenter over at one of NY Times blogs said that Paris should start committing more heinous crimes. Hell, if she doesn’t have to do the time, why stop with drinking and driving??? What if she starts offing her enemies next? Maaaaan, Lindsay Lohan better watch out. ;-)
I honestly threw up in my mouth a little bit when I heard the news this morning. It consumed me with so much rage. Apparently she developed a ‘rash.’ WTF?????
Whoa I had no idea about this till I read your post! Noooo they let her out already?!! Dammit! Well in any case I don’t think she’ll stop her ‘behaviour’ anyway so it’s just a matter of time really. It’s just a question of whether she’d actually end up killing someone innocent as a result of more incidents like this.
On the plus side at least we saw her almost cry thanks to Sarah Silverman! That was oh so excellent to watch!
I can’t stand her. Honestly. She makes my skin crawl. It’s really pathetic to see these celebrities get special treatment because they make a lot of money, or they look good, or they’re talented. But in Paris’ case, she didn’t MAKE any money (lucky for her mommy and daddy made a lot of money), she doesn’t look good, and she isn’t talented; come to think of it, why the hell is she a “celebrity” anyway? Oh yeah, I guess she has some “acting” experience. And she’s a whore. If she violates her house arrest, can we please fire up the electric chair? I think the government owes us at least that much…
Doesn’t this jail have an infirmary?
haze: John (below) brings up a very good point. Even if she is sick, shouldn’t the jail have an infirmary?
Darwin: Yeah, the whole thing is starting to look like one great big farce. Rumor has it that there’s a hearing tomorrow and she might go *back* to jail. The whole thing is getting absurd. And, yeah, I’m soooo glad that you admitted that the Sarah Silverman thing made you laugh. I was cracking up when I watched it, and I felt kind of guilty about that.
Mindspin: You ask, “why the hell is she a ‘celebrity’ anyway?” Oh, but that’s the question on everyone’s mind.
John Enright: Very very good point.
the lesson learned for all of us is that if you’re rich and famous, the laws don’t apply to you.
rather than if you drink and drive, you’ll be punished.
ramifications of dui’s in this country are depressingly lax. My friend got caught after one wine driving in London, and was made to do half a years worth of drinking and driving counseling, her liscense was revoked for 6 months etc. Too many people are dying because of the reckless behaviour of people who don’t think twice before sitting behind the wheel after one drink too many.
It’s disgusting. Paris Hilton should be ashamed.
Like she gives a toss about what any of us/we think.
Bet you she has some stonking house-parties for the next while, or gets photographed at some event/club/whatever.
Skank
distar: Well said.
x: I think you’re missing the point of the comment section. You’re supposed to, you know, express yourself. Come on. Tell us how you really feel. ;-)
Hey – I was just watching a clip on CNN and a rep from MADD was commenting on the circus that is Paris Hilton. You know what struck me? The rep speaking – who is a senior executive at MADD – was a guy.
a GUY!!!
wtf???
I don’t mean to be discriminatory – but aren’t ‘mothers’ female?? Jusy baffling that there’s an organisation formed for women – but they need a man to talk for them….
I saw yesterday that MADD is saying that Paris Hilton is one of 500,000 people who drive drunk, have their license suspensed, and drive anyway each year. They say they are trying to raise $500,000 by the end of June to combat these 500,000 unsafe drivers; I’ve pasted part of their email below:
“MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving would help stop these 500,000 Paris Hiltons by 1) replacing long license suspensions with restrictions on driving that require offenders to use ignition interlock devices and 2) increasing penalties for driving while suspended to help deter people from committing this crime.
There are three things you can do to help stop these 500,000 offenders:
1. Donate to MADD online and help us meet their $500,000 goal at http://support.madd.org/combat500
2. Forward this email to on to your friends and family
3. Email your legislators to let them know you would like better ignition interlock laws at https://secure2.convio.net/madd/site/Advocacy?id=477”
It seems to make sense — why not try to solve the larger problem?
how i find it ridiculous the way paris hilton is adored by the media… she’s a drunk hore who happens to be rich. that’s it.
I’ve been watching Paris Hilton’s BFF. Where do they get hold of these folks? They’re from another world!