Saturday, June 9, 2007

Paris Hilton ordered to LA jail's medical wing

Let's get to the point; Paris is back in jail only because she is a celebrity. If you go to jail for violating your parole for drunk driving, typically you will spend the first 2-3 nights in jail or the weekend. Then you will be put on a tether. This was no special treatment. The mistake the Sheriff made was not to state that this is a very common practice.

With Paris being put on a tether that is like being sent to her bedroom for jail. I had a friend that was put on a tether and they would call and ask where he was when he went out in his back yard to far. For Paris this would be like being restricted to two or three rooms of her house. If you stray to far from your house, first they will call your home. If you do not answer, you are deemed to be violating your parole. When they make the call, they will also send a patrol car by to verify that you are actually at home and not using call forwarding to your cell phone. There will also be several unannounced visits to your home by the local police to verify that you have not taken the tether off and put it on your dog or cat and go out for the night.

What is the advantage of using the tether system, it keeps the jails less crowded. It costs less to run, than an inmate for the night. It allows for the convict to work and provide for their family, versus becoming even more of a burden to society.

What are the down falls of this system, it can be considered not that hard of a punishment and people are more likely to violate the drunk driving laws again. People that are sent to jail for drunk driving for 30 days are forced into 30 days of sobriety. People that are put on tethers can get drunk as a skunk each night.

The United States needs to look at becoming even harsher in its drunk driving penalties. Muslim countries, drunk driving gets you beheaded. European countries, if you kill someone drunk driving you get a death sentence (carried out quickly). European countries if you get caught driving drunk you lose your drivers license for life. It is a lot harder to get a drivers license and a car in Europe than in the USA.

The biggest positive for putting Paris back in jail, she is very likely to quit drinking. This might be a low point in her life and enough to change her ways.

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