by Marcus Brooks

Created on: August 25, 2007   Last Updated: September 15, 2008

"Nicole Richie is famous for what?" As comedian, Loni Love said on E Entertainment's talk show, Chelsea Lately.

"The only thing famous about Nicole is her father Lionel Richie who hasn't had a hit song since All Night Long in 1986!"

Only in Hollywood can someone be famous for doing absolutely nothing. Only through being rich, single and white can an offender serve an obscene 82 minutes in jail for a DUI conviction. She didn't serve 82 minutes on a charge, but a conviction!

What message are we sending to the 25 years and under generation? Does Miss Richie's special treatment come under California law? If so, there are defendants serving time in Iowa who should relocate after they're released from jail.

Richie's sidekick, Paris Hilton, has multiple DUIs. While anyone else, would be looking at a year in prison, she is serving 23 days. Does the billion dollars her family has circumvent the justice system? Is the just-for-the-rich instead of justice for all?

There are mothers of dead sons and daughters in outrage over this. Organizations such as MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) who have to bury their kids because of someone's immaturity. There are fathers who visit their children's gravesites because of one night of "fun". These parents don't have the Lionel Richie's album riches or the Hilton Hotel fortunes. Many are still paying for the plots their children are buried in.

What about all of the young girls drinking underage now? They are blonde, petite and pretty. They know their good looks excuse their bad behavior. As a society, how can so-called "beautiful people" learn their lessons if we don't try and punish them?

An 82 minute, jail sentence says nothing. It doesn't say, "Your actions could have KILLED someone!" It sure as hell doesn't say, "You are going to understand RESPONSBILITY."

Richie needs to visit a county morgue and clean up after autopsies. Or, perhaps, do community service as an embalmer or a gravedigger. Then and only then, she will realize her actions could have killed someone.

In some states, multiple offenders pick up on the side of highways and county roads. They're not wearing Juicy Couture tracksuits and designer hi-tops. They are wearing orange jumpsuits and looking like felons. Part of picking up trash in public is to humiliate the offender. When the offender is humiliated, they will be less likely to repeat the offense. However, Hollywood socialites live on a different set of rules.

They don't pay for bad deeds as regular folk. They don't lose their jobs because of multiple DUI arrests. They receive counseling and treatment on our tax dollars. Is that fair? They make millions and WE PAY for their rehabilitation!

When are elitists going to learn? Their money doesn't move the scales of justice. They turn at the same speed and dish out the same treatment for EVERYONE; not EVERYONE WITH DEEP POCKETS.

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