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Eight months after she was arrested for a painkiller-and-reefer-fueled westbound joyride on the 134 East, mom-to-be Nicole Richie quietly did what needed to be done, and checked herself into the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood at 3:15 p.m. today.

Reviewing her case, prison officials deemed three-quarters-of-an-hour sufficient time for a rehabilitated Richie to have fully repaid her debt to society, and the prisoner was thus released, a full 82 minutes after her liberty had been so cruelly taken from her. It was barely enough time to have a mugshot taken (almost identical to her last one, save for reversed hair and shirt color) and catch a brief glimpse inside the Paris Hilton Memorial Hole, where Richie marveled aloud at how deep the wall scratches left by her Simple Life co-star were before leaving the facility for good, stopping outside the gate to take in a long whiff of the sweet, sweet afternoon Lynwood air. It smelled like freedom.