Dr. Conrad Murray was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and could face four YEARS in the penitentiary. Lindsay Lohan did a few HOURS in jail instead of thirty days. There is a connection between these two stories. With budget cuts, California's state and local detention facilities cannot afford to hold the inmates for their full terms. Dr. Murray would be in prison rather than the LA County jail's Lynbrook facility of course, but it remains to be seen how much time he actually does.
Is this a good thing?
Lindsay's crime was non-violent of course, but every potential jewel thief in Beverly Hills is now thinking that they could literally do the time standing on their head. It is unknown whether Lindsay received special treatment or whether this is par for the course. Someone will shoplift today or drive drunk or God forbid, shoplift while they are on probation for driving drunk today, because of Lindsay Lohan.
The Wall Street Journal has run several stories about prisoner in the California penal system getting early release because of overcrowding. In some cases, this is a good thing, non-violent drug offenders might be best served on the outside where they can best deal with their addiction issues and perhaps become productive citizens.
Technically, Dr. Murray is NOT in that category, he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. There are other doctors with rich patients right now, that had better be doing due diligence with their patients because of Dr. Murray's conviction, or they could wind up behind bars as well. Hopefully, it would be more than a few hours...
