Just cruising along CNN.com and apparently the big breaking news story is that Ms Ryder’s guilty of felony grand theft and vandalism. . .
Not that this is earthshattering news, but I figured y’all would like to know.
Tripler
I now return you to your originally scheduled lives.
GAH!
You beat my CS post by one minute! 
May I punish her? Please? Please?
First I’ll give her a good tongue-lashing. Yeah, a real chewing-out. Then I’ll giver her a licking she’ll never forget, you betcha.
Might as well. 'Cause she sure as hell ain’t gonna do any jail time. . . :rolleyes:
Tripler
I guess if you are famous, you can do anything you want. :mad:
A friend came up with the potential headline “Reality Bites Little Woman”.
Another friend wondered if all shoplifters in LA get that level of charges and prosecution. Just a question, as I have no idea - is jail time a normal penalty for shoplifting there for people with no record? The article listed by Tripler lists probation as one option for similar charges.
I think they should make her model for the next Saks catalog, and make her wear all the matron clothes. With bad makeup. And ugly shoes. Bwah hah hah…
Tripler – very few shoplifters that have no priors go to jail for their non-violent crime. Usually, they have to make restitution, get probation and community service. It’s a different story for repeat offenders.
It was a stupid, STUPID thing for her to do, but locking her up would be very expensive and certianly not worth it when their are bigger fish to fry (in the sense of “violent offenders who need to be incarcerated” sense.)
Yeah, but it’s felony grand theft. IANAL, but isn’t that a little bigger than just shoplifing?
Tripler
I know she won’t be able to buy any guns anymore. . .
Well, I used “shoplifting” in a more colloquial sense; she didn’t exactly come in with a gun and hold up the place or anything - she tried to shoplift really expensive stuff. If she’d have been in a Kmart or something and taken an identical amount of items, perhaps the charge could well have been lesser just because they were worth less. (IANAL, and this is just a huge guess.)
My point was regarding a quote from the article you cited: “The 31-year-old star of “Girl, Interrupted” faces a sentence that could range from probation to three years in prison.”
So it doesn’t seem like it would be out of the pale for a first-time offender with a similar charge to face no jail time, and I was asking if that reasoning seemed to make sense to other people.
Yeah, it’s felony grand theft because it was expensive stuff. A college kid who steals a car for a joyride would get in similar doo-doo. Or if I went to a music store and pocketed a very expensive piece of equipment. I also have no priors, a lot of people could attest to my usually good ethics, and they’d likely chalk it up to a moment of thorough and utter idiocy and supreme dumbassness.
She didn’t break and enter, she didn’t use a weapon, no other person was ever in danger or placed at risk in any way. She hasn’t done it before (or maybe she has but never got caught). Probation, a big ass fine and some really embarassing community service would be right on target.
Tripler, it’s only a felony 'cause of the $ amount.
Probation is normal and any Tom Dick or Harry could expect the same for a first offence.
Relax.
Oh, come on! Let me give her a tongue-lashing!
Put Whine-ona and Marfa “It seemed like a Good Thing at the Time” Stewart in a cell with someone named Large Marge and we can wager on who’s the first to become Margie’s beeyotch. 
Aaah, and the little light over my head lights up and promptly fizzes out. . .
Grand Theft = High $$ stuff. Gotcha. . .
Tripler
I still say she should get the chair.
At least if she didn’t take one…