Given
the choice, after you have stolen from a local store, would you rather go to jail
for 30 or 60 days, or parade outside the store with a sign saying 'I stole from
a local store" for two hours?
We
won't name the woman wearing this sign because she isn't rich and famous, but
she was convicted after acting as lookout for a friend who stole children's clothes
from a Walmart.
It
is reported, by the AP, that Putnam county judge Peter Miller has come up with
more than 600 similar creative sentences. (They must also pay a $294 fine, perform
25 hours of community service and 6 months probation.)
Only
three of the sign carriers go on to commit another offense in Putnam county, it
is claimed.
Other
creative sentences we have seen include:
Three
men have to wear chicken suits and a sign saying "There is no chicken ranch
in Painesville" after they were caught in a prostitution sting.
Teens
who yelled 'pig' at police officers had to stand on the streets with a pig and
a sign "This is not a police officer."
A
wife beater in Harris County, Texas, had to take up yoga classes to control his
anger.
Legal
experts say that the sentences are legal, because they are judged to be less cruel
than sending the defendants to jail.
11th
November 2007
