Criminal Celebrities

[Nyufrost]

All the time we see stories in the news of celebrities and athletes getting arrested for bad behavior ranging from domestic violence to murder, drugs to shoplifting.

Such arrests make big news because of the public interest in celebrity gossip. But what eventually happens to them? Do they have trials like the average person and get sentenced accordingly?

In the news yesterday, actress Winona Ryder was sentenced in her shoplifting case. Ryder *could* have simply paid Saks 5th Avenue for the merchandise she stole and been done with it but chose to fight it in court and was convicted of two of the three felony charges against her.

Grand theft was one of the charges she was convicted of ... that's for stealing anything over $5000.00. As a sentence for her crimes, she must complete 480 hours of community service, pay restitution to Sak's and pay court fees (standard procedure if you lose a case) and she's gets three years' probation in lieu of any jail time.

Is that a good sentence for the felony conviction of grand theft? Were they too hard on her? Or do you think they went light on her because of her celebrity status?

[TerraFrost]

normally, i would say she didn't just "pay them back" because she wanted to proove her innoscense, but in this case, she was pretty much caught red handed, iirc. i remember when it happened, people were thinking she just did it for attention...
and from what i heard after the trial ended, they actually consciousislly decided not to give her any jail time, so she could still act.
however, i really don't know what is typical for grand theft auto.
and personally, i think celebreties should be punished more severilly than normal people, as when they committ a crime, those who idolize them might think its ok to committ that same crime, too. or atleast more ok.

[Evlfrost]

I hate the fact that just because someone is rich and famous they are somehow above the law. Look at OJ Simpson, Winona Ryder, and others. They all committed crimes and served no time. Song Suggestion "Life Styles of the Rich and Famous" by 'Good Charlette'.