ARE CELEBRITIES ABOVE THE LAW?

The cast of Broadway's Tony Award-winning hit musical CHICAGO. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

CHICAGO characters Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart committed serious crimes. They murdered a husband, a sister and a lover. They are arrested for their crimes, but somehow getting their 15 minutes of fame in the newspapers manages to get them off the hook with the justice system. Could this really happen? Yes.

Celebrities today often get off the hook. Sometimes their charges are dropped, they receive a slap on the wrist, a reduced sentence or a get out of jail free card. It's not surprising that the characters in CHICAGO may remind you of the tabloid press today.

Case In Point …
Actress, Lindsey Lohan, was arrested for DUI and cocaine possession and sentenced to one day in jail, 21 days community service and 3 years probation, but served only 84 minutes.

Actor Daniel Baldwin allegedly stole a SUV but was released without bail.

The case was all over the newspapers: "Lizzie Borden took an axe gave her mother 40 wacks, when she saw what she had done, gave her father 41." She was found not guilty.

Daughter of singer Lionel Richie, Nicole Richie, with a prior drunken driving arrest, was arrested for DUI, then served only 82 minutes in jail.

Musician Fred Durst, of the band Limp Bizkit, tried to run down two people with his car and got a 120 day suspended jail sentence.

Actor Matthew McConaughey was detained for possession of marijuana and resisting arrest. The drug charges were dropped and he was fined $50 for violating the city's noise ordinance.

The Doors' lead vocalist Jim Morrison was arrested for immoral exhibition, resisting arrest and breach of peace. After the first two charges were dropped, Morrison had to pay a fine of only $25.

Rapper Foxy Brown attacked two manicurists in a nail salon over her refusal to pay a bill for services. She received 3 years probation and anger management classes. Brown has been arrested previously with no serious criminal consequences for hitting a neighbor with her Blackberry and almost running over a baby in a stroller with her Range Rover.

Actress Winona Ryder, convicted of the felony charges of vandalism and grand theft for shoplifting items from Sax 5th Avenue, received three years probation and community service.

Director John Huston killed a pedestrian with his car but no charges were filed against him.

Actress Natasha Lyonne was arrested for attacking her neighbor, breaking her neighbor's mirror and threatening to molest the neighbor's dog. She received one night in jail and after failure to appear in court, was sentenced to conditional discharge.

Would any of these people have gotten off if they were not celebrities? Would you have gotten the same outcome if you had committed the same crime?

When talking about CHICAGO, Roy C. Dicks of The News and Observer had it right when he said, "now, more than a decade later, the musical’s sardonic swipes at celebrity lawbreakers, the fickle press, and an easily manipulated legal system ring truer than ever."