Hilton's pardon request: Not hot

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's spokesman, Aaron McLear, sounded extremely skeptical today about the governor pardoning Paris Hilton, who has been ordered to jail for 45 days for a traffic violation. But for all those still desperate to Save Paris, we still haven't heard from the governor himself on his critical topic.

McLear broached the subject himself at the end of today's gubernatorial press briefing - after reporters shockingly failed to question him about it. "We have not received anything at this point," McLear said, according to Times staffer Evan Halper. "It would be premature for the governor to get involved until an individual has exhausted their judicial remedies. Even then, he would only get involved in extraordinary circumstances."

It would be premature, yes, but that's not a firm "no." And this is an extraordinary circumstance - it's PARIS HILTON!

Currently, a petition campaign is under way asking Schwarzenegger to pardon Hilton for driving with a suspended license and to overturn her jail sentence, set to begin next month at the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood. Hilton, writing on her MySpace page, is asking fans "and all (who) are outraged by injustice" to sign the petition.

Now, wonders The Poplar Institute, what is going to happen to the campaign contribution that Hilton's grandfather gave a few months ago to the governor: "So, the question is, will Schwarzenegger move to avoid any appearance of impropriety by returning Barron Hilton's money? Barron has clearly done nothing wrong, yet he clearly has an interest in a very specific decision that Schwarzenegger faces. The donation could cause many people to wonder if Schwarzenegger will consider this situation solely on its merits."

(Photos: Dan Steinberg/AP)