On the lighter side----Example of Judicial Wisdom

[Alan K]

I have every sympathy for this young lady, but in Colonial times, she would have been probably been paraded through the town square with a sign or locked in a pillar and stock.

Did the punishment fit the crime?

The story:

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (AP) -- A judge was wrong to order a teenager convicted of vandalizing a school to wear a sign that said "I am a juvenile criminal," the state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.

The 14-year-old admitted breaking into a middle school with three other juveniles in October 2000 and doing about $60,000 worth of damage.

She was ordered by Iredell County District Judge James Honeycutt last February to wear the square-foot sign whenever she went out in public for the rest of the school year.

The girl's lawyer, William Willis, said she wore the sign for about 10 days before he appealed and got a stay of Honeycutt's order.

"Even that 10 to 15 days she had to wear it had the effect that (the judge) wanted," Willis said. "I'm sure she'll never forget."

The three-judge appeals panel said the sign violated the state's prohibition against publicizing the names of juveniles involved in criminal cases and exposed her to public embarrassment.

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Deep Sea]

I fuigure Scarlet Letters are just good advertising.

------------------
Allen Moulton from Uechi-ryu Etcetera