Never mind a sinking Iraq, a sinking Wall Street, a sinking real estate market, rising interest rates, the Group of Eight Summit, and several other petty annoyances. This all comes to a head today.
Miss Showbiz, Paris Hilton vs. The Law His Honor Judge Michael T. Sauer.
Who will win? It’s early in the Pacific time of day. Stay tuned . . .
Midday. (This site, first with the news!)
After spending a few days at home wearing an ankle security bracelet courtesy of law enforcement second-guessing her prison sentence, she was driven to the courthouse OJ style on the freeway to appear in court, and now she’s been ordered back to jail for the full term, screaming “It’s not right . . . Mom . . . Mom . . .” while being hauled out of the courtroom.
Acting meets a show of reality. Sad. But it was never a contest. There will be an appeal, probably, (where they “shoot the wounded”). She can blame her handlers, that is, her lawyers, her parents, her doctors, and the sheriff Lee Baca, aka law enforcement. This litigant should have gone pro se in court this morning after first firing her lawyers and explained for herself that she’s not the maker of these moves, she’s old enough (26). But it would have required a level of maturity. Hopefully, she’ll avoid tragedy and acquire some while serving out her time.
Late afternoon. It’s not over by any means. We now see a full-blown war which is reaching far beyond the confines of Paris Hilton and Judge Sauer and Hollywood. What we are witnessing is the beginning of a long drawn-out affair between the courts and the sheriff’s department and the media and the public and the chief who denies being a celebrity lover, Sheriff Baca. And who knows, her stock may yet get a sympathetic pop. I’m delighted. Through her, a spotlight will shine on the disfunctionality of the justice system hereabouts, and people and the press are PAYING ATTENTION!
She was taken directly to the Twin Towers for processing in, which is where I start to relate to what’s happening to her. Because this happened to me on my sixty-eighth birthday, a never-to-be-forgotten 24 hours in my life, after which I was let out to permit me to hurry to the divorce court to represent myself Pro Se in front of Judge Gold. Read of my experience. As part of the processing-in procedure, she will experience what I experienced, all the makings of a bad sex video (get naked, bend over, spread buttocks, cavity search) along with the discomfort of sitting still in stale prison clothes on a cold narrow stainless steel bench for several hours with the privilege of going to the bathroom in front of willing onlookers. And then, a segregated inmate as I was, alone in a cell where the temperature is deliberately kept shiveringly low. Humiliation is the name of their game.
Sat. June 9
The city attorney, Rocky Delgadillo, who went after Peewee Herman in his Waterloo, felt that Paris should be punished and went after her too. So it was interesting to read today of his wife’s brush with the law, when she too was caught driving with a suspended licence See what happened to her. It became evident that other inmates exiting prison were not given special treatment and resented Paris’s. See what happened to other inmates.
Then this morning we read this in a Los Angeles Times unusually mealy-mouthed editorial which deliberately left out all of the larger issues.
So late today it was reported that Paris, whether alone or with the aid of damage control advisors, has decided that she would instruct her attorneys to drop any idea of an appeal, and that she would brave it out, and asked her fans for support.
Good for her. A smart move, and may she have the strength to get through it with minimal damage, physical and mental as well as financial and image-wise. Perhaps she should look to Martha Stewart as her patron saint, and emerge as a better and more interesting person and for sure a better actress.