It'll only take Nicole Richie nine months to pop out her love child with Good Charlotte greaser Joel Madden, but it's going to take double that amount of time to learn about the evils of alcohol. The starlet just signed up for an intensive, 18-month alcohol education program as part of her plea bargain following her latest DUI bust.
The program, known as SB 38, is for offenders who have been convicted of DUI more than once in a seven-year period. Richie was first nabbed in June 2003 and again last December after police stopped her for driving the wrong way down an L.A. freeway.
Earlier this summer, Richie was sentenced to four days in jail (of which she completed a mere 82 minutes), fined $2,048 US, placed on three year's probation and ordered to complete a minimum three-week alcohol-education course.
But the repentant Richie has chosen to go above and beyond her minimum requirement by signing up for SB 38, which entails 52 hours of group counseling, bi-weekly face-to-face interviews and 12 hours of alcohol education, reports People magazine. Participants are also encouraged to attend 12-step meetings, but it's not mandatory.
Is the socialite really so wracked with remorse that she's willing to surround herself with shady, repeat offenders for nearly two years of her life? Or is she already beginning to dread the prospect of being stuck with a crying baby and faux-punk boyfriend and is desperate for an excuse to get out of the house?
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