Authorities ban Hilton jail interviews

Paris Hilton will be banned from giving television interviews while in jail and authorities were taking aggressive steps to prevent cameras from being smuggled into the prison, a sheriff said today.

The party-loving socialite was ordered to begin her sentence by Tuesday in Lynwood, about five miles south of Los Angeles. She was sentenced last month to 45 days for breaking the terms of her probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case.

Sheriff’s officials have said she will serve about 23 days because of state rules allowing shorter sentences for good behaviour.

Deputies and jail employees have been told to treat the 26-year-old heiress like any other inmate, Sheriff Lee Baca told the Los Angeles Times.

“Paying a debt to society should not be an element of her celebrity,” Baca said. “Her occupation is publicity, but no one should profit in jail.”

Hollywood agencies expect a photo of Hilton in jail could be worth big money.

“The reality is, why don’t they just let her walk down the concrete carpet?” Frank Griffin, co-owner of the Bauer-Griffin paparazzi agency, told the newspaper. “This is going to be turned into an event like the Oscars.”

Baca said it was unclear whether Hilton would surrender at the court where she was sentenced or report straight to jail. He said authorities would not allow her to “be seen in handcuffs … or in the back of a police car, forlorn and in handcuffs”.

Once there, Hilton would go through the normal intake process, Baca said. That involves undergoing an interview by jail staff and evaluations for any medical and other needs.

“Jails are not circuses and not places where ’fun’ is the priority,” Baca said. “Jail should be a corrective learning experience.”

The jail houses about 2,200 women, but officials have said Hilton will be kept away from the general population. Baca said no decision had been made about whether she would share a cell.

Hilton will “experience her incarceration as all other women will experience it”, Baca said. “She won’t get better food, she won’t get different lockup time or a different environment.”