Los Angeles - Within minutes of the first report that socialite Paris Hilton was being freed from jail early Thursday morning, the blogosphere and cable news shows were humming with outrage. "It's home sweet home for Paris Hilton," said an anchor for MSNBC. "Is this justice Hollywood style?"
For most of the contributors to the social news site digg.com, the answer was glaringly obvious as the caustic comments flowed as freely as the spirits at Hilton's favourite nightclubs.
"Paris Free = Justice Fails," read the lead comment, followed by the tagline: "3 days total. You and I would be rotting right now."
Scrolling down the page, the comments were almost all negative. Some speculated that she had given sexual favours to her jailers, while others voiced fear of Hilton once again roaming the streets of Los Angeles in her Bentley Continental.
"Next time she drives drunk I hope she hits a tree," said one contributor.
"I don't know what's more sad," added another. "Having another celebrity get off easy, or the fact that someone actually cares about Paris Hilton."
It was easy to understand the sense of outrage. The 26-year-old hotel heiress has been a constant favourite of gossip columnists even though she is hardly an A-list show-business talent.
In fact,her most notable movie is the unauthorized private sex film One Night in Paris, in which her polished sexual techniques make it hard to believe her claims that she has only ever had sex with two men.
Her legal troubles began last year when she was caught driving drunk. She pleaded no contest to an alcohol-related reckless-driving charge in January and was sentenced to 36 months' probation.
When she was later pulled over by the California Highway Patrol, Hilton was told that she was driving on a suspended license and signed a document acknowledging she was not to drive. She was then pulled over a second time by sheriff's deputies on February 27 and charged with violating probation.
A judge in May sentenced her to 45 days in jail specifying that she should not be eligible for early release, special treatment or house arrest using an electronic bracelet.
Though the Hilton family initially criticized the sentence as excessive and claimed Hilton was being victimized for her celebrity status, the heiress herself appeared to have accepted her fate.
"I'm really scared but I'm ready to do this. And I hope that I'm an example to other young people," Hilton told reporters at the MTV Movie Awards, just hours before surrendering to authorities.
Her early release made a mockery of that statement and the judge's recommendations, though Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, said her "reassignment" was for unspecified medical reasons and did not signal any favouritism for the powerful family.
Legal experts declined to agree with that assessment.
"They should be ashamed of themselves," said MSNBC legal analyst Susan Filan. "They have made a joke of the criminal justice system and they have let Paris Hilton have the last laugh on us."
But even as she spends the next 40 days ensconced in her multi-million dollar Spanish-style villa in the Hollywood Hills, in her designer clothes, expensive jewelry and electronic monitoring bracelet, Hilton will remain firmly in the public eye.
"This was a chance for Paris to redeem herself," said Village Voice columnist Michael Musto. "She did say she's going to accept her fate and I'm glad it turned out to be a lot of baloney. The Paris we love is someone who continually feels she is above the law - who continually messes up.
"She's a Teflon heiress who we try to bring down to our level."
