Zany punishments

[Graham2001]

The Sideswipe humor column of the New Zealand Herald published a list of 'creative' punishments for petty crooks compiled by Mental Floss magazine, are these for real?

[diddy]

Lets see. No Names, no locations, no dates. These three facts make is next to impossible to verify if any of these happened ever.

Here's the Mike Cicconetti article mentioned by Mental Floss.

[Mother of Nanaballis]

This sounds like Judge Poe from Houston, Texas. He has since run for congress.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...14/ai_21224326

[ULTRAGOTHA]

But the Texas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, looks askance at Poe's methods. "This is the scarlet-letter syndrome" says Joseph Jacobson, director of the ACLU's Austin affiliate. "It's a form of public humiliation. It's like putting people in stocks like in the old days. The central problem is it makes it that much more difficult for someone to integrate back into normal society.

The ACLU hasn't brought any suits against Poe's punnishments. But on what Civil Liberty ground would they bring them?

Cruel and unusual?

Unusual, I'll grant you. But I don't see any cruelty in his sentences. Embarrasement isn't cruelty.

[Deepfrydegg]

Again, there are no details in which to back up the story.

It is quite possible both of the judges in question have issued the punishments listed or maybe they are just credited with such.

Lost of fluff, but no meat. I doubt the incidents were done by the people who said they did it.

[Pseudo_Croat]

Personally, I think more judges should resort to the use of "scarlet letter" punishments. Also, I think we should punish more egregious crimes with hanging, drawing and quartering, and other such techniques. After all, wouldn't it make a bigger impression on any would-be evildoers than the current criminal justice system. Also, where is the evidence that doing such things isolates the victims?

I say bring it on.

- Pseudo_Croat

[Skeptic]

I saw a HBO special about a guy who killed a teen while driving drunk. His punishment was that he had to send a dollar to the family every Friday, the day on which he killed their child. Just so he’d remember at least once each week, not that I think he’d forget.

I remember this one, it happened about twenty years ago. But what was sad about an already sad story was that the young man had a breakdown from it all. The parents of the victim were the most vile people I every saw. Despite him complying with the court's request, and VOLUNTEERING to lecture school kids on the dangers of drink driving for several years later, they continued to seek their pound of flesh, dragging him back into court on flimsy legal arguements.
Even the news reporter, a man known for his hatred of DD's, felt sympathetic.

[Towknie]

Originally Posted by Pseudo_Croat

Personally, I think more judges should resort to the use of "scarlet letter" punishments.

It's all a scarlet letter punishment in a way. Applicants for even the most menial of tasks, at least if applying for a job in a corporation are facing background checks these days. Having something on your record of misdemeanor or higher makes it really, really tough to find any kind of meaningful employment anymore.

Look at most job applications now, and they no longer ask "Have you ever been convicted of a felony?"

Instead, they typically ask "Have you ever been arrested for a crime?"

Big, big difference there.