"Today I told my attorneys not to appeal the judge's decision. While I greatly appreciate the Sheriff's concern for my health and welfare, after meeting with doctors I intend to serve my time as ordered by the judge.

This is by far the hardest thing I have ever done. During the past several days, I have had a lot of time to reflect and have already learned a bitter, but important lesson from this experience.

As I have said before, I hope others will learn from my mistake. I have also had time to read the mail from my fans. I very much appreciate all of their good wishes and hope they will keep their letters coming.

I must also say that I was shocked to see all of the attention devoted to the amount of time I would spend in jail for what I had done by the media, public and city officials. I would hope going forward that the public and the media will focus on more important things, like the men and women serving our country in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places around the world."

In sending Hilton back to jail, Sauer appears to be the first judge to publicly challenge Baca's authority to release inmates from jail short of their full court sentences.

Legal experts said Friday that the clash could have wide legal consequences.

"For decades, where [inmates] were housed and how they were housed was up to the Sheriff's Department," said Stan Goldman, a professor of criminal law and procedure at Loyola Law School. "Now that all may change, thanks to, of all people, Paris Hilton."

Baca defended his decision to let Hilton leave jail and said he was concerned about how Sauer's order - if copied by other judges - would affect the jail system.

"This has the strong potential to set up what will become an untenable precedent because of overcrowding in jail and the lack of adequate housing," Baca said in an interview.

In the last five years, the Sheriff's Department has released more than 200,000 inmates early, including some who ended up committing murders and other serious crimes when they otherwise would have been behind bars.

The releases were possible because of a nearly 20-year-old federal court order allowing the Los Angeles County sheriff to alleviate overcrowding by letting county offenders go home early.

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Paris Gets Out of Jail: Judge May Throw Her Back In

Paris Hilton has had a really bizarre day. First she's let out of the hellhole of a jail she was in and sent to her house where she was supposed to wear a monitoring bracelet and not leave the premises for 40 more days. The reason for the change was for "medical reasons" -- her family leaked that it was a rash, but jail sources say her psychiatrist said she was on the verge of a mental breakdown.

But now, an fame-seeking Los Angeles City Attorney named Rocco Delgadillo has filed a motion to hold the L.A. Sheriff in contempt of court and remand Paris back to county jail. The hearing will be Friday at 9:00 a.m. and Paris has been ordered to attend. The original judge in the case ordered her to spend 45 days in county jail, and hand wrote on the order that she couldn't do a city jail (pay jail, nicer conditions), work furlough or electronic monitoring. And although it's up to the Sheriff's office to decide when to release prisoners, the judge and the city attorney are going to the mat on this one.

Anyone remember Michelle Rodriguez of Lost, who had two DUI's? She served only a few hours of her sentence before being let go. But no one seemed to care. Paris Hilton is not a violent criminal and is no danger in society. Anyone who has lived in Los Angeles knows that there are so many more pressing issues to worry about than where Paris does her time. There are violent criminals that need to be locked up. First-time offenders with no record or flight risk are routinely given electronic monitoring, which is what should have been ordered in the first place. Paris was sent to jail for driving with a suspended license: 45 days in county is a ridiculously long sentence for that crime. And nonviolent offenders rarely serve more than 10% of their time.

"She would have gotten out early if she was plain Jane," said Leonard Levine, who has handled numerous probation violation cases. He noted that overcrowding in the Los Angeles County jail system has led to thousands of nonviolent offenders serving only 10 percent of their sentences. "She did as much time as a normal person would have done."

Loyola University law professor Laurie Levenson said that she suspected the deal for Hilton's early release was in the works even before she entered the jail system _ and that officials probably were anxious to get her out of their custody.

"The time and resources needed to take care of a Paris Hilton are huge," she said. "They have to make sure she is safe and her medical needs are attended to. Everything they did was going to be looked at under a microscope."

Levine said that with rewards being offered for pictures of Hilton in custody, jail officials would have had to monitor the cell phone cameras of every employee.

It's irrelevant that she's famous or even that some people find her obnoxious. This is a case of a politician trying to make a name for himself. Her attorneys should appeal the whole thing, because the sentence is disproportionate for the crime. If she violates the probation again, drives drunk again or commits some other crime then she deserves the harsher sentence. But this entire matter has become a theater of the absurd. Paris Hilton is a promoter par excellence, just like Donald Trump. She's turned a stupid mistake (a sex tape) into a profit-making venture. She's made herself famous and makes plenty of money all on her own. But she's female, doesn't care what people think about her and she's not very nice -- so she's being persecuted. Judge Sauer didn't like her personally, so he ordered an inappropriate sentence -- and we find that appalling.

Posted on June 7, 2007
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Paris Hilton Goes to Jail

After walking the red carpet at the MTV Movie Awards last night (looking fabulous in a flirty black cocktail dress and cascading blond curls), Paris Hilton returned to her parents' home, then set off with her attorney to begin her jail sentence.

Lynwood just after 11:30 p.m. Sunday. She's expected to serve three weeks for violating her probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case. Hilton surrendered to sheriff's deputies after making a surprise visit to the MTV Movie Awards in the afternoon. "I am trying to be strong right now," she told reporters on the red carpet. "I'm ready to face my sentence. Even though this is a really hard time, I have my family, my friends and my fans to support me, and that's really helpful."

Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said Hilton was easy to work with. "Her demeanor was helpful. She was focused, she was cooperative," he said. Hilton turned herself in at the Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles just after 10:30 p.m., then was escorted to the all women's facility in Lynwood, where she was booked, fingerprinted, photographed, medically screened and issued an orange top and pants, Whitmore said. Hilton's booking photo showed the heiress wearing what appeared to be a V-neck shirt, eye makeup and lip gloss that highlighted a slight smile. Her long blond hair was draped over one shoulder. After checking in, Hilton was given her first meal: cereal, bread and juice.

*****

"I did have a choice to go to a pay jail," Hilton said Sunday, without giving details. "But I declined because I feel like the media portrays me in a way that I'm not and that's why I wanted to go to county, to show that I can do it and I'm going to be treated like everyone else. I'm going to do the time, I'm going to do it the right way."

*****

Hilton's publicist, Elliot Mintz, said he spoke with Kathy Hilton after she returned from the jail. "She told me it was very emotional," Mintz said. "She also said that she feels this will be a time when Paris will be able to think and reflect and to spend time alone to learn from the experience because in Paris' life she's never alone - there's always a constant chatter around her."

That's an interesting point - this may be the first time that Paris has been alone in years. Maybe it will be good for her. Did we mention how great she looked at the MTV Movie Awards? Not that looks could ever sway our opinion about someone.

Posted on June 4, 2007
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