Lessons in a jail cell

Hotel heiress Paris Hilton is turning over a new leaf during her time in prison.

Her world's so messed up that she's taken to answering her fan mail personally.

Hilton should certainly cling to whatever fan base she has left after being sent back to jail for violating her probation – twice. Of course, Hilton was arrested Feb. 27 for driving with a suspended license less than a year after being initially arrested and convicted of driving under the influence.

Her case, silly as it may seem, has brought important issues to the forefront – how wealth and class functions within the justice system, if mental anguish should be cause to release low-risk prisoners and – most important of all – why is Hilton famous, exactly?

I have to say that I did feel sorry for Hilton after her June 7 release. She turned herself in only three days earlier thinking she was going to serve 23 days in an albeit "nice" prison cell. After less than a day of house arrest, she was back in jail – this time for the full 45-day sentence.

It's not that I have a problem with Hilton serving her full sentence. DUI is an extremely serious offense no matter who you are. Not to mention, her "mental condition" excuse for getting out of jail was completely bogus.

But the fact remains that Hilton didn't exactly let herself out of jail. I would hope the powers that render justice in this country would be better at making up their minds. Even criminals should have the right not to be jerked around by a sheriff and judge for political gain.

And there's no mistaking that public opinion also helped put Hilton back in the slammer. But since when does what the public think of a person have anything to do with his or her punishment for a crime? If this were the 13th century I'd imagine a mob with burning sticks would show up at Hilton's castle and physically put her in the town dungeon. That's a scary prospect.

So while Paris reconnects with her fans, "finds God" and makes plans to become the next Angelina Jolie, let's at least take some real lessons away from her ordeal. They're there if you can get behind the paparazzi's glare.