Posted on 07/20/2002 12:25:40 PM PDT by NC_Libertarian
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A judge sentenced Noelle Bush, the daughter of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, to three days behind bars for violating a court-ordered drug treatment plan by having prescription pills in a treatment center.
Noelle Bush, 24, was sentenced Wednesday for contempt of court and taken to a jail in Orlando.
Her lawyer, Pete Antonacci, said he didn't know what kind of pills had been in his client's possession. He said she had the pills for about a half-hour but tested negative for having taken them.
A letter from the treatment center to Judge Reginald Whitehead said Bush was questioned by a staffer who noticed her carrying pills. Bush said she had found the pills, while a nurse said they were taken from a cabinet in her office, the letter said.
"There is a concern about her lack of honesty, and how it relates to her ( recovery )," the letter said.
Bush was arrested in January at a pharmacy drive-through window for allegedly trying to buy the anti-anxiety drug Xanax with a fraudulent prescription. She was admitted to a drug treatment center in February, with the possibility that charges would be dropped if she completed the program.
Must be nice being a Bush...
Do you know? Until you have some FACTS about whether this is regular procedure, maybe you should refrain from the nasty remarks. There doesn't seem to be any indication thus far that she is receiving special treatment.
I feel badly for her family who has to deal with the crap, but have absolutely no control over her (as an adult).
I assume this is being done..
Whew, at least it was Xanax and not that evil weed.
Xanax is used primarily for short-term relief of mild to moderate anxiety and nervous tension.
She probably was nervous! I wish her the best of luck in kicking whatever habit/addiction she has.
Also, she needs a new haircut.
That's what you get when you leave the cabinet and apparently, the office unlocked. More than likely this nurse and perhaps some of the other nursing staff have a habit of failing to secure this area. Residents watch the staff's movements, know who the ones are who don't secure the room/cabinet, and know when they can make their move. It doesn't take much to tempt a substance abuser. It happens all the time in the prison system too. If they could just get the necessity for security pounded into the heads of the medical staff at these places, alot more of these incidents would be stopped. Of course Noelle was also at fault for having the pills, but if she didn't take them, more than likely some other resident did and gave them to her for a price. But then again, and it's something I don't even like to speculate on, she could have been set up by a staff member who hates the Bush family. It wouldn't surprise me.
There have been threads on this before and Summer has posted information about the drug program in Fla. Find them if you wish.
Maybe, since you're interested, you should do the research and find out. Why this story is of interest to anyone other than her family is beyond me. My guess is millions of families deal with these problems outside the glare of the media.
In the first place, if her name wasn't Bush she'd be in or on her way to prison already (this is her third offense) and not in a cushy (I assume) rehab.
In the second, even if she WAS in a cushy rehab, she'd STILL be on her way to prison after stealing drugs from a medicine cabinet (a felony, BTW). (Do they leave drug cabinets unlocked in rehab centers?)
In the third place, this is the public's business every bit as much as Roger Clinton's and Jocelyn Elder's son, and Hugh Rodham's and Billy Carter's (and Chelsea's, if she'd ever misbehave) antics are. More so, in fact, because this incident seems to prove, again, that there is one law for 'regular' people and a whole different law for the privileged and powerful.
Clinton's brother went to prison. Elder's son went to prison. And they should have -- because America was founded on the curious notion that no one is above the law. We deserve to know if that notion is still valid, because our Pledge of Alliegiance says, "with liberty and justice for all." If that isn't true anymore, we should be told outright, so we can drop it from the Pledge the way that doctor wanted 'under God" dropped.
If Noelle Bush is getting much, much lighter treatment for her crimes than you and I would get, we the people deserve to know that, because we need to hold the people responsible for that uneven justice accountable -- to us and to their oaths of office. Do you think Jeb would be reelected if he came right out and said, "As your governor, I'm going to crack down on the scourge of illegal drugs (and drug use) and severely punish those who violate our laws! Unless they happen to be related to me, in which case....never mind"?
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