September 6, 2000

Too famous for jail

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Being rich and famous is now a legally acceptable excuse for avoiding jail time in Australia, where convicted radio talkshow host John Laws was given a cushy suspended sentence on the basis that he was too wealthy to fine and too famous to imprison, according to the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD.

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Laws was convicted of soliciting information from a juror in a 1998 murder trial about how the jury had reached its decision — a crime that could bring up to seven years in prison in Australia.

However, the judge ruled that, Laws’ “high profile” status made him a target for “personal injury or worse” if sentenced to jail. Even home detention would be too much, as is it would “risk attracting the derision of the community.”

In a sidenote, Robert Downey, Jr. reportedly just purchased a house in Melbourne.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

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