Posted on 04/29/2009 1:32:14 AM PDT by Robert Drobot
A Utah mother of four small children has been jailed on a judge's order that she serve 30 days behind bars for allegedly sending a text message while she was watching a court proceeding....According to Jackson's report the incident happened....about a month ago, but his daughter-in-law was summoned to court only yesterday and ordered immediately to jail....Susan Henwood allegedly sent a text message, an action that didn't affect the hearing, its participants, or the judge, but later was reported to him by a member of the court staff, according to Jackson.
(Excerpt) Read more at worldnetdaily.com ...
Limited pity here. No one should be using a phone for anything while in court.
Well, the last time I was in court, there was a big, clearly posted sign that said turn off your cell phone or you may be held in contempt. Clearly, she did not do this. Still........
so now you can be thrown in prison for taking notes in court??
Supposedly there were no signs. Did you see the judges other rulings?
This guy is a jerk.
If you need a sign to tell you NOT to use a phone during court, you DESERVE to be in jail.
I really hate text-messaging morons who think it is their god-given right to text anywhere-movie theatre, driving a car, during court, etc...
I call these people phonetards!
Luke: I don't know, Boss.
Boss Paul: You better get in there and get it out, boy.
It's your God (note capitalization) given right to swing your arm until you hit someone else's nose.
If you think that being thrown in jail - for a month, no less - for silently manipulating a small piece of electronics is acceptable, then something is seriously wrong with you.
I call these people phonetards!”
What upsets you about silent messaging? I can see if they are distracted while driving a car, but in a movie theater? It is not as if they are talking.
“phonetards”
LOL—I’m with you!
I agree with you, but if you're going to call somebody an imbecile, it's probably a good idea to spell it correctly. :-)
And why not?
Texting makes no noise at all.
Should have been six months. I am sick and tired of cell phones being EVERYWHERE. You can’t go anywhere without hearing a conversation from people yapping on the phone and the texting is insane. You can hear those keys going a mile a minute and don’t get me started on the driving while texting....
Bull crap. I just took out my cell phone and started punching keys (just to prove my point) and suddenly everyone just looked over at me wondering what I was doing. I am sitting in an office with five other people and they all could hear it. Texting is not a silent activity.
I'll chime in on this one..yes, in a movie theater. They normally have a lighted face and some idiots leave on the tones...I have seen these too many times to count.
Did you actually ask your mates if their notice was due to HEARING... or SEEING?
1) It's not silent.
B) A movie theater, in addition to being silent, is also supposed to be dark. When I pay eight bucks to see a movie, I don't want to be distracted by a sea of little flickering LCD screens.
You people are sick! It's none of your f***** business who is talking to what....person or machine. You have no right to a sound-free environment.
AND being that from what I have read in the story presented HE had to be told AFTER the fact I am going with him being a huge Moron!
Ah, excuse me.
I was a court reporter in court for 20 years. Babies crying didn’t bother me, but a public defender had his watch set to go off every minute to remind him to breathe. Yes, it happens. He couldn’t wear his watch in my court again.
Are you allowed to take notes on a PDA? Is it the typing that’s an offense or the transmitting?
Obviously the judge agreed with us...lol. I do have a right to a sound-free environment in a court room....what a stupid thing to say. Do you actually read what you write???
What's funny is these are probably the SAME freepers (the ones complaining about people texting) that go bonkers when the government tries to take away their right to smoke at a restaurant.
You want your sound-free environment? You dark theater? I want my smoke free environment. You can't have it both ways.
Seems to me that there is such a thing a decorum in court.It also seems to me that there is such a thing as "texting" in every court - after all, what else is the court stenographer actually doing? If nothing in the hearing was classified, and if the judge didn't know about the incident until he was told, it looks like "no harm, no foul" would have been the correct (non) call.
Judges and their court officers go nuts when they hear a cell phone ring during the calendar call and daily proceedings.
Some thick-headed lawyers are arrogant enough to not even turn off their phones, though most do.
Still, I’ve never seen anyone incarcerated for it. They usually get yelled at and ordered to leave the courtroom.
Or church.
All phones and pagers will be turned off during the proceedings, is a common instruction given to those entering a courtroom. I suspect there’s more to this story than we’re being told.
If your phone makes noise when you are texting, you need to reset your preferences or get a better phone.
“But I agree with his decision to enforce the rules of his court. Its disrespectful to the court.”
Thirty days imprisonment for writing on an electronic device is disrespectful to mankind...disrespect for this arrogant tyrants court is patriotic.
Did you actually read what the judge said?
“She was summoned to court where Henriod ordered her immediately to jail for 30 days, responding to a request for bail with the condition that would be allowed only if her husband paid a $70,000 judgment stemming from the civil dispute, Jackson reported.”
He would give bail only if they agreed to pay a judgment. Anyone else pulled this and it would be called extortion.
There are very clear signs in court rooms.
My brother is a lawyer and he will not even take his phone in the court room. He witnessed a lawyer get a hefty fine and tongue lashing for having an single beep call alert be heard by a judge.
But, 30 days? That is heavy handed unless she got uppity at the hearing.
I agree. People convicted of DUI and shoplifting usually receive less jail time and cause FAR more harm to society. The most the woman should have received is a small fine. The Judge is acting as a tyrant.
Any lawyers out there to verify?
Sadly, society is hopelessly ADDICTED to their tech toys.
And they expect us to respect courts and the justice system? BS. I hold the entire justice/Law enforcement system in contempt.
He would give bail only if they agreed to pay a judgment.
He should exchange places with the woman immediately
Considering the who the judge is, agreeing with him doesn't put you in good company. And YOU don't have a right to a sound-free environment in a courtroom because YOU have no power to make everyone else shut up. It's the judges call, not yours. And my comment was based on your comment which went well beyond the courtroom. Maybe you should go back and read your own post.
Should have been six months. I am sick and tired of cell phones being EVERYWHERE. You can’t go anywhere without hearing a conversation from people yapping on the phone and the texting is insane. You can hear those keys going a mile a minute and don’t get me started on the driving while texting....
You were complaining about cell phones being EVERYWHERE, not just court. You must be one of those "if I don't want one, you can't have one" types.
You must be one of those “if I don’t want one, you can’t have one” types.
Not at all. I have 2 cell phones. One for work and one personal, but I am courteous and don’t use it in the stores or while driving. I would not even dream of using it in a courtroom. I don’t know why you are upset over my post. I did a rant that every FREEPER does from time to time and maybe it was over the top but it was still just a rant.
while waiting for the 20 cases ahead of you?
it is no different than reading the file you have in front of you.
There is more to this story. The content of the text must be at issue here.
Lawyers use their blackberry’s all the time to update their location with their offices. “call judge x and let them know I am in judge y’s courtroom.”
Not sure what your point is. Of course the judge can control his court (to a certain degree). If you are in my house, I can control you from making sound by tossing you out. But in the general public, nobody has the right to a sound-free environment.
Lemme guess, you’re one of those silly people with the thing in your ear, talking to yourself loudly.
However, such behavior should not be subject to fine or imprisonment. In most court rooms, the bailiff will ask the user to stop or step outside the courtroom.
Can I at least snore? :-)
Since you don't use yours in stores, can I take it your don't talk at all in stores either? Because really, what does it matter if someone is talking to an electronic device or another person? It's really not your business...seriously, it's not. The point is, you are not the national arbiter of cell phone courtesy.
As for the rant, it cuts both ways. You rant...I rant...we rant. It's all part of the debate. I'm not saying your are a bad person, maybe just a tad too concerned about how someone else is exercising their personal freedom.
It's nothing personal. We can still have a beer together...if we can find a bar quiet enough for you. :)
Yea, I'm one of those silly people exercising my silly freedoms to talk to whoever and whatever I choose without asking your permission.
LOL, while you're talking, the rest of us are laughing at you.
So let no one say your oafish social mores have no desirable purpose.
I absolutely support the restaurant owners decision if they want to allow smoking or not. If you don't want to smell smoke, go to a smoke-free restaurant. If you don't want to hear loud music, don't go where there is a live band. If you don't want to smell cooked meat, don't go to a steakhouse. I really don't understand people who think they have a right to a purified public environment.
Whatever fills your void. Glad to help.
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