Since I didn't exactly gloat, or even see the issue as that big a deal, I didn't really pay as much attention to this note as I usually do to Althouse's bloggins.
Ms. Althouse is---or was and perhaps still is--- disgusted that "creepy lefty bloggers...burst with pleasure" that the girl is going to suffer.
[quote begins at Althouse, "Was that Equal Justice for Paris Hilton? (May 5 2007)]
It seems obvious to me that she's being treated worse because of her celebrity, though I can see how you could say that she acted different -- flouting the law -- because of her celebrity. Even so, she didn't deserve that much...... also saying that it makes me sick when people gloat when someone is sent to jail. I think it's wrong to enjoy seeing someone suffer, even if that person is terrible.
[quote ends]
Good point. Why are liberals who wince at the ill treatment of the dregs of society not moved by the prospective suffering of a clueless society girl? The punishment of hubris is the usual subject of Greek tragedy, so what price the lack of aidos here? Why does the public feel neither pity nor terror at the thought of the suffering that this girl is scheduled to undergo?
I think the answer is obvious: Paris Hilton has made herself a farcical character by her behavior as reflected in the media and farcical characters don't provoke pity and terror; seeing them punished is the basic stuff of comedy.
And Hilton is exactly the sort of rich society girl whom Ann Althouse (I assume) and I saw enjoyed seeing brought low in the comedies of our you: Prettyish but not as pretty as all that; unabashedly self-indulgent; guilelessly arrogant; recklessly indifferent to basic relationships of cause and effect. Paris Hilton's whole public personam seems to center on the theme, "Look at me! I do whatever I want because I can and because my people can buy or sell you. Watch me!" which is unattractive at the best of times. This is the sort of girl our culture teaches us SHOULD be brought low because we believe that great and unearned good fortune should be balanced with a certain humility in recognition of luck without any connection to merit.
I suppose too that envy plays a part in it, though not the sort of envy Hilton doubtless believes she evokes: Envy instead of someone with access to such opportunities who lives an apparently purposeless and empty life." For example, I suspect that people would feel a certain amount of pity and terror if some other young hottie who comported herself differently were similarly treated. For example, if it had been Britney Spears, I suspect people would be coming out of the woodwork to say, "The poor kid. She needs help, not jail time."
Althouse seems to think that Hilton was treated worse according to
applicable sentencing guidelines than the usual defendant similarly
situated. I do feel some concern for her safety and trust that the
authorities will take proper precautions, but if people refuse to be
checked by small doses of reality, then there's nothing for it but
sharper measures. Althouse's point is, of course, that she is being treated differently from other people and, as I understand her argument, selectively singled out from treatment different from that accorded to others in the same situation.
That's certainly a point of view and if she were being sent to jail for six months I'd probably be more sympathetic. But for 45 days? Cry me a river, unless either the judge went outside his discretion or it's clearly shown that her physical safety can't be secured.
For an intelligent young woman who needed a dose of grim reality, this could be a true learning opportunity (because life in jail is simple in a whole different way than her ridiculous reality show contemplated). For Paris Hilton----unless she is much brighter than she feigns, which almost seems like it would HAVE to be true----it may indeed be simply pitiable. Perhaps it will also be redemptive.
Interestingly, the posters at the Althouse site seem to have disagreed with her on this. Here are a few of the comments by (presumably) non-creepy and (possibly) non-lefty Althouse commenters:
[quote begins from Comment, The Drill SGT]
I think the sentence was appropriate.
As I understand the facts:
1. she was arrested in Sep on DWI and plead no contest, was on probation, had her license suspended and was required to take a class.
2. She failed to take the required class. she failed to stop driving.
3. shortly after sentencing, in Jan, she was caught driving with her license suspended. she signed a statement acknowledging this fact, and was told not to drive.
4. 6 weeks later she was caught again additionally charged with violating probation
her mother laughed in court when the lawyer requested jail time?...
she is going to hurt somebody and the judge is trying to send her a wake up message that money and celebrity doesnt give you a free pass. somebody needs to teach her that.
lock her up.
next time make it 6 months.
[quote ends
[quote begins from Comment, Freder Frederson
Well, maybe things are different in L.A., but if you are caught driving on a suspended license here in Louisiana, you are going to jail, no ifs, ands or buts. Some people who were arrested for very minor violations just before Katrina ended up spending over a year in jail, some of it at Angola.
[quote ends]
[quote begins from Comment, Nachum]
Jail is never fun. But for a person on probation to violate the terms of that probation signals that perhaps some harsher punishment is required.
[quote ends]
[quote begins from Comment, Impacted Wisdom Truth]
Yes, sentences for DUI are harsh in California. Go to this link and scroll down to "Sanctions" to see typical sentences for DUI in California, if this site is any source of authority.
In Canada, this sentence might have been for 73 days.
[quote ends; links in original]
[quote begins from Comment, Sean]
I practice criminal defense. The disposition of Paris's probation violation is similar to the sentences that I have seen others receive in similar situations. It appears that she had a few warnings and then ultimately suffered the consequences.
[quote ends]
[quote beings from Comment, Beto Ochoa]
she was tooling down the highway at 1100PM with her lights off in a McLaren SLR...
[quote ends]
As one commenter remarked, where did all those creepy leftists come from? Althouse updated her article somewhere along the line to point out that she hadn't said that Hilton was treated worse, but to argue for that she should have received equal treatment. Well, okay, but what she said was:
"It seems obvious to me that she's being treated worse because of her celebrity, though I can see how you could say that she acted different -- flouting the law -- because of her celebrity. Even so, she didn't deserve that much."
[quote ends]
To this extent she has a point: She was not allowed to pay in order to be sent to a different jail "as some violators are allowed to do." Even so....?
Comments