Top > Entertainment > 2007 > August > 2007-08-30

Celebrities and the law

Does the law favor celebrities? The last few weeks have seen several prominent Hollywood celebrities come face to face with the law after having performed some very serious crimes. Celebs such as Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Ritchie, David Hasselhoff and Paris Hilton have all served jail time in the past two months for committing crimes including driving under the influence of alcohol and possession of cocaine. However, many of them were not required to serve their full sentence, and others simply ?got off light?.

Lindsay Lohan was sentenced to only one day after a second drunk driving offense and cocaine possession charges. Her party buddy Nicole Ritchie served only 86 minutes out of her 92 hour sentence for driving under the influence, which resulted in a severe crash in the middle of LA streets. And although Miss Hilton served 23 days of jail time, she abused her financial position by buying herself special treatment whilst in the cell.

DUI lawyer specialists have admitted that these and many other celebrities have managed to squeeze free of harsher punishments for their illegal actions in ways that other Americans are incapable of doing. Whilst many see the over-crowdedness of Las Angeles jails as reason to set the girls free, others view Lohan?s 1 day jail sentence as nothing more than a slap on the wrist when the maximum penalty for drunk driving is up to 12 months. Paris Hilton no doubt employed America?s finest and most powerful lawyers to reduce her sentence to only 23 days, which many believe is a raw deal.

Being the role models that they are, it is possible that their ?escape? of the law will encourage others to repeat their mistakes. The problem is, when you?re not rich and famous, you can?t afford to buy yourself a ?get out of jail free? card.