Lindsay Lohan; Million Dollar News Story?

I was listening to a radio show early this morning. The main topic of discussion was if Lindsay Lohan would return to jail. After being released from rehab, she failed two drug tests for cocaine. She was ordered to appear in court last Friday. The judge overturned his previous ruling that Lohan would serve 30 days in jail for each infraction. Instead she posted bail and plans to return to rehab. She has also been spotted spending time with children at a local homeless shelter, perhaps trying to make amends with the larger community for her violations.

The first question I would ask is if this is news worthy. Every case that involves probation violations and failed drug tests does not make the morning news. Literally there would be too many cases to cover. Yet when a celebrity commits one of these crimes it makes national news. I would ponder that this is because they are in the public eye and they were previously charged with being a role model. This could be important to show that celebrities are not perfect and that they face the same repercussions that everyone else does.

The second question I am going to pose is was the judge's ruling fair. It is my understanding that this is the 5th time Lohan has appeared in front of the judge for probation violations. I watched the last time she was in court on TV. She was missing her appointments for rehab. That time the judge sentenced her to a month in jail. Since then the judge has stepped down and a new judge has taken her place. I believe that this new judge has failed her, as she has already been forgiven and let off the hook several times. The last time she was in court the judge came down on her and held her accountable for her actions. In addition, I believe that the only way Lohan will learn to not do drugs or not violate her probation is to be consistent. She has already been given many second chances and has moved into the next phase of being accountable for her actions. I believe that the judge did a disservice to her by dismissing her charges. Instead of learning from her actions, instead she will understand that money can get you out of trouble.

Finally, I want to ponder whether it was appropriate for Lohan to visit a community shelter. I believe that Lohan visited the community shelter to better her image for the court and the community as a whole. Yet I think it was unwise for her to do this. I believe that by visiting children she is increasing her popularity amongst the younger generation. Currently she is not following the rules of the court and the laws of the community. She serves as a role model because of her celebrity status, but she is not doing the things an ideal citizen should do. I do not think this is what we should expose our kids to. Instead I think it would be wiser if she did community service that helped the people, but did not increase her popularity, such as picking up trash on the highway or cleaning graffiti off of walls. In addition, I think these type of activities would be more difficult and more likely to teach her a lesson.

Overall, I think that it was appropriate for this story to be covered. Yet I think the decisions of Lohan and the judge were inappropriate.