FILE: The internet is abuzz with petitions debating whether celebrity heiress Paris Hilton should serve her jail sentence or be pardoned

Record ID: 722389

  • Title: FILE: The internet is abuzz with petitions debating whether celebrity heiress Paris Hilton should serve her jail sentence or be pardoned
  • Date: 17th May 2007
  • Summary: INTERNET (FILE)(REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WEBSITE FREEPARIS.ORG VARIOUS OF WEBSITE IPETITIONS.ORG
  • Embargoed: 1st June 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Entertainment,People
  • Reuters ID: LVA8YK8J513M7T9XTYYNJY8E97ZD
  • Story Text: Four days after a Los Angeles judge sentenced Hilton to 45 days in jail for violating her probation by driving on a suspended license, the competing petitions provided a rallying point for a lively debate over whether the celebrity socialite and reality TV star deserves her punishment.
    Kyle Vincent, an artist who launched the FreeParis.org Web site, is trying to collect one million signatures on a petition seeking clemency by June 5, the date the hotel heiress was ordered to report to jail.
    Vincent, 27, described himself as a longtime Hilton fan who believes her story that she was unaware her license had been suspended when she was caught driving 70 mph, or 45 mph over the speed limit after dark without headlights in February.
    Vincent was also using his site to hawk "Free Paris" T-shirts for 18.99 (USD) a piece, along with similarly themed buttons, bumper stickers and coffee mugs.
    His is one of at least two pro-pardon petitions to surface this week on the Internet.
    A no-pardon petition urges Schwarzenegger to "ignore other petitions asking for clemency and show the people of California that no one is above the law."
    Hilton herself appeared to embrace the clemency effort with a short note posted on what was identified as her personal page on the popular social networking hub MySpace.com: "My friend Joshua started his petition, please help and sihn it (sic). I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!"
    Hilton's publicist, Elliot Mintz, who she blamed in court last week for misinforming her about her license status, said the petition drive "appears to be legitimate." But Mintz said he could not immediately verify whether the message attributed to Hilton on MySpace was authentic.
    Schwarzenegger's press secretary, Aaron McLear, said the governor had received no formal request to consider a pardon.
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