I just read this story about a 56-year old woman in Pennsylvania and her 35-year old daughter who were busted for stealing a Walmart gift card from a 9-year old who'd set the card down on a shelf as she was being helped by an employee. On her birthday.
To avoid jail time, the women agreed to a more unusual punishment: for 41 and a half hours, they will sit/stand in front of the courthouse holding a sign that reads "I stole from a 9-year old on her birthday. Don't steal or this could happen to you!"
So I'm wondering: does the punishment fit the crime? My first reaction is to say yes. Jails are overcrowded. Public humiliation -- and worse, online humiliation -- that's a pretty decent alternative. Now, if the women had been forced to twirl the sign, or pretend to air guitar with it, then I would have said too much.
What say you? Is it time to start finding more creative solutions to California's crime problem?
[Photo]
bullets to the dome would have been more fitting.
I think we should have more public humiliation. One thing to keep in mind though is someone obviously took a picture of them and with our digital age -- this image will ALWAYS be around and as technology gets better, this might hurt them in other ways that perhaps a traditional punishment would not have..
Oh well -- still a good idea, I think.
WOW! Do the crime, pay the life long time.
I'm going to say this is a good idea, until I'm forced to do it. :P
A 10 year maybe but, a 9 year,
unheard of.
Those ladies are lucky they aren't living in Fresno...they would have been promptly shot by a Fresno police officer for brandishing a stolen gift card that could have been confused with a gun or a knife. I'm just saying....
Haha.
So what happens to people who steal other people's stuff on the internets?
I think humiliation is a great deterrent for crimes, and helps the economy by supporting their local print shop with all the signs... win-win ;)
Jamie, excellent post. I can just see the situation: a nearby policeman would be summoned and some of the shoppers would yell, "She stole the little girls card", "I think she has a gun . . or a knife . . . or a silk scarf or something." Then the policeman would find the woman hiding in a locked stall in the bathroom and shout, "Come out of that stall, now!!"
The woman in the stall would refuse and then reach down to pull up her pants and the policeman would empty his clip right through the door. A few hours later, on the news, the FPD Chief would say, "The officer feared for his life and had to make an instant decision. He had reason to believe that the woman might have been raising her pants to pick up a gun underneath them. We feel that his actions were appropriate, considering the circumstances."
The hilarious thing in all of this is that the woman was doomed. If she had opened the door to come out as ordered, the police officer would have emptied his clip, because he thought she was opening the door to shoot him.
Moral: if a Fresno policeman corners you, you're dead.
...hey, how about this one.
Just don't break the law.
(I know, it's a lot to ask, but...)