The case of Roman Polanski is a triumph of celebrity over justice.

The Academy Award-winning filmmaker, whose unenviable early life as a Holocaust survivor and widower whose young wife was brutally murdered by the Manson family, went on to achieve the status of a cultural icon because of his skill and vision as a director. His well-deserved awards and accolades for his career, though, cannot erase a dark episode from Mr. Polanski's history.

It's been 33 years since Mr. Polanski, already an acclaimed director, pleaded guilty to reduced charges related to giving a 13-year-old girl champagne and part of a Quaalude pill, then sexually assaulting her in a hot tub. He served 42 days in psychiatric evaluation in Chino State Prison and maintains to this day that the California judge who heard his case had agreed no further punishment would be imposed. When Mr. Polanski got wind that the plea bargain might be falling apart and he might be facing jail time, he fled to France, where he has lived since 1978.

Last September, he was arrested in Switzerland on an outstanding international warrant and it seemed likely that Mr. Polanski would have to face the consequences of his actions. Last Monday, though, Swiss officials rejected efforts to bring Mr. Polanski to the United States, and there is no right to appeal the ruling.

Mr. Polanski now is free to live in France, although he still would face apprehension if he were to travel to this country.

His supporters long have maintained that Mr. Polanski was denied justice because of how his case was handled in 1977. The proper way to challenge the proceedings is by returning to California and making the assertions in court. Instead, the Swiss government has given all of the benefit of the doubt to Mr. Polanski, effectively putting him above the law. That's not justice either.

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