Paris Hilton Released From "The Jail", Finally

A smiling Paris Hilton walked out of a Los Angeles County jail early Tuesday, officially ending a bizarre, three-week stay that ignited furious debate over celebrity treatment in the jail system.
The 26-year-old celebutante was greeted by an enormous gathering of cameras and reporters upon leaving the all-women's facility in Lynwood about 15 minutes past midnight. She had checked into the Century Regional Detention Facility late June 3, largely avoiding the spotlight, after a surprise appearance at the MTV Movie Awards.
Hilton smiled and waved as she filed past deputies and the media, her blond hair pulled back in a braided ponytail. Her parents, Kathy and Rick, waited in a black SUV. Hilton hurried to the vehicle, where she hugged her mom through the window.
Hilton, who was wearing a sage jacket with white trim over a white shirt and skinny jeans, did not respond to reporters' questions.
''She fulfilled her debt. She was obviously in good spirits. She thanked people as she left,'' said sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore.
Photographers sprinted after Hilton's vehicle as she left. When the SUV hit a red light during the ride, photographers jumped out of their cars and swarmed it.
Hilton appeared to have gone to a family home in a ritzy Los Angeles canyon north of Sunset Blvd.
The hotel heiress will complete her probation in March 2009 as long as she keeps her driver's license current and doesn't break any laws. She can reduce that time by 12 months if she does community service that could include a public-service announcement, the city attorney's office has said.
During her stay at the Lynwood facility, Hilton was mostly confined to a solitary cell in the special needs unit away from the other 2,200 inmates.
After spending only three days there, she was released to home confinement by Sheriff Lee Baca for an unspecified medical condition that he later said was psychological.
The following day, Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer, who sentenced the hotel heiress, called her back into court and ordered her returned to jail, saying he had not condoned her release.
Hilton left the courtroom in tears calling for her mother and shouting, ''It's not right!''
She was then taken to the downtown Twin Towers jail, which houses men and the county jail's medical treatment center, where she underwent medical and psychiatric exams to determine where she should be confined.
Hilton's stay there cost taxpayers $1,109.78 a day, more than 10 times the cost of housing inmates in the general population.
The move by Baca caused a firestorm of criticism over whether the celebrity was getting special treatment. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has launched an investigation into whether the multimillionaire received special treatment because of her wealth and fame.
At least one person has filed a claim against the county alleging she ''had serious medical issues'' but was not treated as well as Hilton.
A few days into her stint at the Twin Towers medical ward, the heiress said in a phone call to Barbara Walters that she had a new outlook.
''I used to act dumb. It was an act. I am 26 years old, and that act is no longer cute,'' Hilton said during the call, according to an account posted June 11 by Walters on ABC's Web site.
''It is not who I am, nor do I want to be that person for the young girls who looked up to me,'' Hilton was quoted as saying.
Hilton's path to jail began Sept. 7, when she failed a sobriety test after police saw her weaving down a street in her car on what she said was a late-night run to a hamburger stand.
She pleaded no contest to reckless driving and was sentenced to 36 months' probation, alcohol education and $1,500 in fines.
In the months that followed, she was stopped twice by officers who discovered her driving with a suspended license. The second stop landed her in Sauer's courtroom, where he sentenced her to 45-days in jail. She was released after three weeks for reasons including good behavior.

Paris Hilton Transferred to Los Angeles Jail

Paris Hilton has already served more time behind bars than most people for similar probation offenses, a Los Angeles Times investigation concluded on Thursday, as authorities announced yet another move for the jailed socialite.
The newspaper's findings came as detractors accused the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department of giving preferential treatment to Hilton, who has become a symbol of privilege and the excesses of America's celebrity culture.

Five days after being returned to jail from a 24-hour stint under house arrest, the blond, willowy hotel heiress was transferred late on Wednesday from a county jail's medical ward back to the detention center where her incarceration began 12 days ago.
Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said on Thursday that Hilton's "medical condition is stable" and that she would be housed for now at the health clinic of the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood, a Los Angeles suburb.
"Her condition will continue to be monitored," Whitmore told a brief news conference, adding she might be moved back into her original jail unit if her condition warranted it.
Hilton, 26, was expected to be released on June 25, Whitmore said.
Whitmore declined to discuss her condition. But celebrity Web site TMZ.com cited law enforcement sources as saying that Hilton suffers panic attacks when confined to a small space.
Hilton originally was sentenced to 45 days in jail for violating probation in a drunken-driving case by driving on a suspended license. But her term was cut to 23 days under a standard credit applied for time served on good behavior.
A Los Angeles Times analysis found that 80 percent of Los Angeles County inmates sentenced for similar offenses since July 2002 have served less time than Hilton will end up doing. She already has served more time than at least 60 percent of those prisoners, it said.
Hilton originally was booked into the Lynwood facility on June 2 and spent three full days there before Sheriff Lee Baca, who oversees the jail system, reassigned her last Thursday to home detention under electronic monitoring.
Baca cited unspecified psychological problems affecting Hilton's medical condition as the reason for his decision, which drew immediate fire from prosecutors, the judge who presided over Hilton's case and angry members of the public.
The judge, Michael Sauer, ordered a distraught Hilton back to jail last Friday to complete her term.
Rather than returning her to the Lynwood facility, Baca had her sent to the medical unit of another detention site in Los Angeles where she could get more sophisticated care.
Whitmore said she was moved back to Lynwood on Wednesday night after Baca determined Hilton's condition had improved.