2008 Woodie Awards
Does 'commit the crime, do the time' apply to celebrities
Point-Counterpoint
Rachael Kephart
Issue date: 9/27/07 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Celebrities recieve lighter punishment than the general public.
Our American way of life is dependent on our legal system. It keeps people in check and ensures that victims are rightfully compensated and criminals are fairly punished.
But what if a criminal goes unpunished? We would like to think that as a freethinking society atrocities like this do not happen; however, if we truly believed this then we too would be guilty, guilty of ignorance.
I am, of course, talking about celebrity justice or rather celebrity injustice.
For example, socialite Nicole Richie served 82 minutes in a women's jail after her second DUI found her Mercedes-Benz parked in the carpool lane headed the wrong way on the freeway.
The exceedingly lengthy incarceration only lasted long enough to book, fingerprint and photograph Richie. The young celebrity never even saw the inside of a cell.
Former child star Lindsay Lohan recently completed rehab; however this 20-year-old actress is no quitter.
Within the past year Lohan plead guilty to cocaine charges and driving under the influence of alcohol. For her crimes she received an appalling one day behind bars.
I am sick of people making excuses for these celebrities, dishing out sob stories about how a celebrity did the best they could when faced with the pressures of stardom. News flash: I don't care. In this country if you commit the crime then you do the time, no excuses.
Celebrities do not need private jail cells and Egyptian cotton sheets to complete their hour and 22-minute jail time. The situation is meant to be uncomfortable because, it's jail and it is a punishment, not a vacation or a new chance to be featured in the upcoming issue of People magazine.
Our American way of life is dependent on our legal system. It keeps people in check and ensures that victims are rightfully compensated and criminals are fairly punished.
But what if a criminal goes unpunished? We would like to think that as a freethinking society atrocities like this do not happen; however, if we truly believed this then we too would be guilty, guilty of ignorance.
I am, of course, talking about celebrity justice or rather celebrity injustice.
For example, socialite Nicole Richie served 82 minutes in a women's jail after her second DUI found her Mercedes-Benz parked in the carpool lane headed the wrong way on the freeway.
The exceedingly lengthy incarceration only lasted long enough to book, fingerprint and photograph Richie. The young celebrity never even saw the inside of a cell.
Former child star Lindsay Lohan recently completed rehab; however this 20-year-old actress is no quitter.
Within the past year Lohan plead guilty to cocaine charges and driving under the influence of alcohol. For her crimes she received an appalling one day behind bars.
I am sick of people making excuses for these celebrities, dishing out sob stories about how a celebrity did the best they could when faced with the pressures of stardom. News flash: I don't care. In this country if you commit the crime then you do the time, no excuses.
Celebrities do not need private jail cells and Egyptian cotton sheets to complete their hour and 22-minute jail time. The situation is meant to be uncomfortable because, it's jail and it is a punishment, not a vacation or a new chance to be featured in the upcoming issue of People magazine.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Mark E. Jayne
posted 10/05/07 @ 8:25 AM CST
You miss the point by attacking the perpetrator of crimes(celebrity or not) rather than the system of criminal justice itself. The Courts are overloaded, the prison systems are bulging at the seams, and crime continues to rise. (Continued…)
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