Lifestyles of the criminal and famous

Lil' Wayne, Chris Brown and a host of other celebrities have recently been in trouble with the law.

Oftentimes democracy plays a minor role in A-list crime, because a celebrity's punishment is not always proportionate to the crime committed. Things such as the law, equality and common sense fall by the wayside when it comes to justice in Hollywood.

Wayne will soon be facing a year in prison for gun charges he acquired in 2007. RollingStone.com reported that Wayne is anticipating bringing his iPod to prison in order to keep making music.

Since when did prisons allow inmates to bring ANYTHING from the outside world, let alone electronics?

What about the rules and regulations that discourage this and the countless incidents in which outside objects have been used as weapons, hurting and killing other inmates?

It doesn't stop there - word has it that he will not have to cut his hair before he enters prison, according to MTV.com. That's right, Wayne will have the luxury of maintaining the upkeep of his dreadlocks. The rapper's impending prison sentence may be able to compete with Martha Stewart's "Cupcake Camp" prison sentence from a few years ago, during which she enjoyed activities such as yoga and cooking.

The grass isn't always greener on the other side. Not all celebrities receive such preferential treatment in return for their criminal acts. Chris Brown, who some of you may have seen around the city of Richmond, has 1,400 hours of community service to complete and five years of his life under parole, not to mention the massive public scrutiny he has faced since he beat up Rihanna.

Domestic violence is a detestable crime, and those who partake in it deserve punishment, but would an ordinary citizen receive the same punishment? I am no lawyer, but something tells me that an ordinary citizen would have received a much lesser sentence. Really, Chris Brown wasn't just punished for domestic violence, but for being Chris Brown AND partaking in domestic violence &mdash double whammy.

In the unpredictable world of Hollywood, it looks like another case of survival of the fittest. If a celebrity is high-profile enough, he or she may be able to escape the harsh consequences the law may bring to offenders, but that isn't always the case. When the so-called squeakyclean celebrity messes up, he or she may never hear the end of it and is made a spectacle of. Where is democracy in tinsel town?

Maybe if we all stop treating celebrities like immortals, they can have a chance to come down to our level. After that, maybe every inmate in the country can be privileged and content, with iPod in hand, because fair is fair, right?