Paris Hilton and Potholes

Now, I thought I would never say this, but Paris Hilton has finally given us a reason to discuss something important. Basically, whether the United States has a two-tier justice system, one for the rich and powerful, another for the other 99.999 percent of the population.

After serving just a few days of her jail sentence, Paris Hilton was released with an ankle bracelet to her home - in strict defiance of the judge's orders. Why? She had an "unidentified medical condition" that allowed her to leave. In what was a great response, the local prosecutor has dragged her back into court to demand she go back to jail, and to hold the sheriffs that let her go in contempt of court.

This is important. It shows that being a celebrity doesn't mean you get special treatment. Although in the majority of cases, it does. If I had been caught with a DUI, I would have gone to jail immediately - Paris paid a fine. She was then caught driving on a suspended license. She signed a pledge promising not to do it again. Finally, after getting another DUI, she was forced to spend time in jail - Something I would have had to do for any of those three offenses, more than likely.

And the sheriffs should not have let her out. I hope they too get punished for deliberately violating judge's orders under some misguided idea that she had a medical condition. If she did, she could have had it treated in jail, like every other inmate, and if it was serious, it would have been addressed at her hearing.

According to the National Institutes of Health, about 1.8 to 3.0 percent of the incarcerated population has AIDS. Of those, several hundred die in jail each year. So what could Paris possibly have that can make her leave? Now she is under house arrest in her multi-million dollar mansion, which is like grounding Bill Gates to his room.

I hope she goes back to jail, and I hope those sheriffs are fired for doing something like this. We must not allow our judicial system to continue to fall apart like this. Celebrities are people, let them suffer the consequences for their actions and maybe many people wouldn't see Hollywood as a haven for coke sniffing criminals.

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On an different note, I will be holding the first "Pothole Invitational." Send me descriptions of potholes in the Pittsburgh Area, or even photos if you want, and I will post the most flagrant on the blog for all several of you to see.

So e-mail me: andy.medici@gmail.com.

So next time the muffler falls out of your car, back up, pick it up and see what you hit. Chances are it's a crack in the ground, and chances are, it should have been patched a long time ago.