LA cops force woman to double as Jamie Lynn Spears

[MrScorpio]

January 2, 7:43 AM
by J.D. Tuccille, Civil Liberties Examiner


Do you need any more evidence that celebrities have become an unofficial American aristocracy? How about the conscription of an innocent bystander to double for paparazzi bait so that the real deal can slip out of an airport unnoticed by the press?

In the classic 1894 body-double novel, The Prisoner of Zenda, a British tourist is persuaded to stand in for an absolute monarch. A century and a bit later, airline passenger Adessa Eskridge is simply ordered by Los Angeles police to stand in for Jamie Lynn Spears so that the celebrity can evade the press on her way out of the airport.

From TMZ:

"Last September 11, when Jamie Lynn flew to Los Angeles, LAX cops tried to divert the paparazzi by using a decoy whom they escorted to baggage claim. The impromptu decoy -- Adessa Eskridge -- happened to be on the same plane as Jamie Lynn.

Eskridge's lawyer, Chuck Vernon, tells us one of the cops told Eskridge as she got off the plane, "You're going to help us with something." He says it was almost as if she was taken into custody. Vernon says cops told Eskridge to walk with them as they made their way to baggage claim.

Vernon says as the eight officers escorted his client, she took her sunglasses off but they told her to put them back on. As they reached the bottom of the escalator, she was suddenly and unwittingly besieged by paparazzi.

Jamie Lynn was able to beat a hasty retreat from the airport, undetected by the media."

Assuming that the details of the story as reported so far are true, I'm at a loss to understand where police think they get the authority to order private citizens around. There's no civilian draft -- yet. People aren't supposed to be tools available for the use of the nearest police officer.

But it's undoubtedly true that celebrities have become a privileged aristocracy, often able to evade laws that trip up the rest of us and secure special favors beyond the reach of mere peons. That's especially true in Los Angeles, a town that worships fame. Now, it seems, celebrities are even the subjects of such solicitous behavior by the authorities that the police will coerce a private person into service so as to spare even a minor figure the sort of inconvenience that comes with the status she has courted.

The Ruritanians who recruited Rudolf Rassendyll to stand in for the King of Ruritania in Zenda actually asked for his cooperation. In 1894, that was a courtesy expected of even a monarchy. In 2008 ... Well, arbitrary power has become a rather accepted aspect of life in a democratic republic.

I'm curious as to what would have happened if Adessa Eskridge had dug in her heels and told the cops to take care of their own business without her. But not just deference to power, but fear of the badge, has become an ingrained part of American life -- for good reason. Perhaps wisely, Eskridge allowed the police to drag her along for their scam, saving her complaints until she could hire a lawyer.

Do you think this is the first time the Los Angeles police have pulled stunt like this? Maybe we'll find out during the trial. Eskridge is taking the matter to court.

http://www.examiner.com/x-536-Civil-Liberties-Examiner~y2009m1d2-LA-cops-force-woman-to-double-as-Jamie-Lynn-Spears

[dysfunctional press]

1. i'm not trying to justify the police' actions, but- was ms. eskridge headed to baggage claim anyway?

:shrug:

obviously it doesn't make it right, but IF she was going there anyway, it makes it seem slightly less nefarious.

[MrScorpio]

2. If I were in her shoes, I would have asked them how much it was worth to them

I think $1,000 is a nice round number for services rendered

[ColbertWatcher]

3. Old news is old. n/t