Paris Hilton is going to jail for 45 days. But will this latest in a series of ‘scandals‘ be a speed bump or another launching ramp in her ‘career?’ The rules for the rest of us are different than celebrities, particularly celebrities who are famous for being famous.

My feeling is that, all judgment aside, her most recent brush with the law won’t harm her brand in the short term, and, in the upside down world that is entertainment, will help it. You can already see her new book, album, and television spin-off: “The Simple Life in the Big House.” Her new publicists are no doubt managing calls this week on who gets the exclusive. For a while, almost anything she does, as long as it is victimless, will build her naughty girl brand.

However, from a public relations point of view, Paris’ law-breaking behavior will garner a different reaction when:

• She starts a family: If Ms. Hilton becomes a mother, the public will measure her differently. If and when Ms. Hilton becomes a mother, her behavior will be judged through the critical lens of parenthood. No one can argue the career damage pop diva Britney Spears’ recent activities have created, factored exponentially since she’s the mother of two.
• She does it again: Right now, Paris is daddy’s naughty little rich girl. The offense doesn’t seem quite as offensive when we attribute the crime to the time and circumstances of daddy’s indulgence and her youth. After 45 days in jail, any repeat performance from Paris won’t be seen as naughty—it’ll be seen as habitual, which is not a far step from problematic. And with that, the rules of judging her behavior will change.
• She gets older and/or loses her looks: Young, beautiful people have carte blanche—as a society, we’re very forgiving when it comes to excusing the indiscretions of youth. Were Paris convicted of this crime in her 40s rather than her 20s, the public view would be radically different. Case in point: Nick Nolte. Even though he was arrested for a similar crime, the perception is much different. The lovely young Paris gets a DUI and the public thinks, “Oh, these kids today.” The mature and less attractive are held to a higher standard: Nolte gets a DUI and the public thinks, “Oh my God, what happened to him?”
• She loses her money: Not likely but still possible, if Paris were to be cut off from the family money, today’s ‘cute’ would become tomorrow’s ‘pathetic.’ Kind of like when Mike Tyson squandered earnings of more than $300m, then filed bankruptcy and announced an exhibition tour, saying that he ‘needed the money’ and thought it would ‘make him feel better about himself.’

Like Kato Kaelin before her, Paris Hilton was not content to be famous just for being famous, trying her hand at acting in the 2006 Razzie Award nominee House of Wax. She may soon learn that you can fly closer to the glare of ‘all publicity is good publicity’ when you’re younger, but the older you get the stronger the spotlight–and the stronger the likelihood that your wings will melt.