Instructive rule

IN his column about press coverage of Paris Hilton [“Paris Isn’t the Only One Guilty,” May 12], Tim Rutten faulted the mainstream press for not pointing out that “the American criminal justice system does not punish one person to instruct others.” Anyone who has observed the criminal courts in L.A. has seen punishments meted out for this reason on many occasions. The California Rules of Court that guide judges in fashioning sentences state, in Rule 4.410, that one of the “general objectives in sentencing” is “deterring others from criminal conduct by demonstrating its consequences.”

This objective has been questioned by many as ineffective, but the rule is used regularly on cases that don’t make headlines.

ANNA ROBERTS

Los Angeles