Justice System Double Standard

August 27. 2007

Look at her smirking in her mug shot like she did something good - she's quite proud of herself - though she could have killed someone with her reckless conduct:

Nicole Richie

Recently, so called stars Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan were arrested on serious DUI charges. Richie had violated her probation and endangered the public once again, where people could have died, when she got on the highway, driving the wrong way, while high and drunk.

Lindsay Lohan, in the space of three months got arrested twice on drug (cocaine) and alcohol charges. During the second arrest, the bigot exclaimed, "The black kid was driving." You've got enough freckles to be black, so you need to shut up with that.

Lindsay Lohan looking high as a kite

Lohan had been lying for quite sometime about being an alcoholic and drug user, which I slammed in my Sound Off Column a couple times earlier in the year, as I knew she was not confining her substance abuse to herself.

Finally, last week she admitted what myself and others already knew - that she heavily abuses drugs and alcohol.

While I believe in giving people second chances, these Hollywood menaces have had numerous second chances, blown them, then gone right back to their old ways endangering others, as they don’t take their welfare or public safety seriously.

Another one that was smirking in their mug shot for a DUI arrest - because drunk driving is funny and good (not!):

Paris Hilton

While some judges have taken a stand (Judge Sauer), others have not. Someone please explain to me how it is appropriate that Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan, both repeat violators, were only sentenced to 1 day in jail, with Nicole only serving 1 hour.

I say Richie’s sentence should have been suspended until her pregnancy is over and she be made to spend a year in prison. There are innocent members of the public who have died in other cases via the exact same misconduct Richie carelessly engaged in - inebriated and driving the wrong way on the highway - and she was already on probation when she did it.

Lohan is just as bad, as she has exhibited a chronic pattern of driving while high and drunk. It's a vile impulse with her that she has done repeatedly.

Taxpayers deserve more than having these hardheaded public menaces loose on the streets, behind the wheel, on the road where law-abiding citizens drive. There is nothing cute about their conduct and it is only a matter of time before they violate their probations again – also known as a danger to the public.

Britney Spears speeding and endangering the public - was finally pulled over after speeding for an entire mile where she was instructed to stop but didn't for a long time - then was let go without a ticket, which would have cost the average motorist a bundle for the same conduct:

Actor Lane Garrison, who was severely drunk when he crashed his vehicle that was also occupied with minors he had illegally supplied alcohol to, one of whom died, with the other left severely injured, was only sentenced to 90 days to see how he behaves. He cost a child their life and destroyed that of another. He should be looking at years not months.

While God forgives, He also permits in the world justice systems where people are answerable to their crimes.

But this justice system double standard in Hollywood fuelling terrible, reckless conduct is failing the public. Stars don’t believe they will be held accountable under the law for their crimes and it is creating more crimes, as they believe they have free rein to do as they like, legal or otherwise.

Some sites like TMZ often brag about how stars get out of charges, but this is not something to be proud of. It is something to be ashamed of, as it shows how corrupt and weak the justice system is that these entertainers make a mockery of it and get away with crimes that leave people aghast and sometimes dead.

Members of the public routinely condemn this conduct, but clearly and ironically the justice system doesn’t. Cases like these clearly illustrates that the justice system does not work.

Celeb DUI Cases Spotlight Justice System

In a city famous for showing that life's little problems can be resolved in a 30-minute sitcom, celebrity justice is sometimes just as swift.

Blink-and-you-miss-them sentences this week for Lindsay (nyse: LNN - news - people ) Lohan and Nicole Richie have resurrected the question of whether fame provides a soft landing for fallen stars.

On the same day, Lohan got a one-day jail sentence for drunken driving and being under the influence of cocaine, and Richie served the better part of a four-day jail sentence for driving under the influence of drugs in 82 minutes. She never saw the inside of a jail cell.

Were those slim punishments the benefit of fame? The answer is yes and no. Their sentences were consistent with others that occur outside the spotlight, according to legal experts. But high-priced lawyers helped them evade any stronger punishment.

On the flip side, the cost was high in negative headlines, legal bills and career consequences. An actress like Lohan, who had a thriving screen career before she was arrested, may have trouble being insured for future projects. She is also spending time in yet another rehab facility and has admitted she has an addiction problem.

But the impact on others is what worries those involved in the legal system and the treatment of drug and alcohol abuse.

"For the young kids, it sets a bad example," said Beverly Hills addiction specialist Marty Brenner. "It says if I have enough money and a great lawyer I can get away with anything." …

She noted that Lohan could have been charged with a felony but that her plea bargain involved only misdemeanors. Richie was a second offender charged with driving under the influence of drugs after motorists reported her driving the wrong way on a freeway. She was arrested after being found stopped in a car pool lane, her vehicle facing the right way.

Both Lohan and Richie fared far better than Paris Hilton, who served some three weeks in jail for a probation violation after pleading no contest to alcohol-related reckless driving.

"Paris Hilton got hit hard by a judge who knew he could use her as an example," Levenson said.

Attorney Harland Braun, who has represented celebrities on drug- and alcohol-related cases, said the public doesn't consider how much the stars have to lose.

If they are deemed uninsurable, they will lose acting roles. "If the public gets tired of them, it could really hurt their careers," he said.

Braun said he represented a high-profile actor with drug problems who could no longer get top roles because of insurance problems.

"He's now reduced to doing small parts and productions overseas," Braun said.

http://www.forbes.com