The big entertainment story this week was the Winona Ryder sentencing hearing. Some amusing facts came to light at the conclusion of the trial, during which Winona steadfastly refused to show remorse or accept responsibility for her being a drugged-out hop-headed social misfit.

The heart of the issue is, one feels, whether special treatment should be accorded to the famous and the wealthy. Does Winona have an excuse buried somewhere in the idea that she isn't a normal person, that in being constantly under scrutiny as a celebrity she is subject to extraordinary pressures that can only be relieved through acts of wanton rebellion? No, I don't think so either. In the photo you see Ryder reacting to part of the prosecution's summary, in which District Attorney Ann Rundle jumps up and down on Ryder's support for the family of Polly Klaas. Up to this point Winona had been sitting quietly.

But she got out of her chair and glared with an open mouth at Rundle when the prosecutor accused Ryder and defense lawyer Mark Geragos of deciding to "trot out the body of a dead child" in order to avoid punishment in the shoplifting case.

The Write Stuff

Help keep down the crime of shoplifting by being generous this year with those Christmas gifts. But what do you get for the busy female executive on the go? How about a Massage Pen from Excalibur Electronics?

For only $19.95, you can give the "comfort of massage" in a small package, suitable for taking anywhere. The product is marketed as offering "instant stress relief" and somehow—don't ask me—it uses "ancient holistic techniques derived from the Far East." You just put the vibrating contoured tip right on the source of the stress and then get ready for some ancient holistic techniques. I'll bet that busy executive will be spending a lot of time thinking about the Far East as the stress melts away. Good job, Excaliber!

Southern Justice

The tide does appear to be turning in favor of We the People in the War on Drugs, if I read this story right in today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Georgia has some of the most draconian sentencing laws in the country, and these were the focus of the 19-member Commission on Certainty in Sentencing, who forwarded their report to Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes yesterday. Among the highlights:

• The new guidelines will focus on violent, sex and career offenders.
  
• Fewer drug possession offenses and other nonviolent crimes would bring prison time.
  
• Drug dealers who use a gun, who sell narcotics to strangers, etc., would receive harsher sentences.
  
• More lenient terms could be given to dealers who sell only to friends or who are first-time offenders.
  
• Probationers who violate terms of their release would be sent to a diversion center, into substance abuse treatment or to a boot camp.
  
• The guidelines are relatively simple to understand and use, and are fewer than 20 pages long.
  

Old-Time Religion

This isn't exactly a Crime and Punishment story, but in Virginia, Wiccan Priestess Cyndi Simpson is suing the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors for not letting her "deliver prayers at meetings" on an equitable basis with other clergypeople. Obviously, city meetings shouldn't be religious affairs at all, but if they're going to have prayers, they're letting themselves in for this kind of challenge. Watch Board Supervisor Kelly Miller twist on the gibbet:

The lawsuit alleges that, by its practice of inviting almost exclusively Christian clergy and by refusing Simpson, the board violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

"I think we have a right to do that," Miller said. "Of course, I'm Christian and I support the Christian theology. I make no apology for that."

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