Judge Orders 17-Year-Old Girl Not To Have Sex [also prohibited tattoos, body piercings...

WNBC.COM ^

[Sub-Driver]

Judge Orders 17-Year-Old Girl Not To Have Sex

POSTED: 10:16 am EDT September 30, 2005

SHERMAN, Texas -- No sex. That's part of a sentence imposed on a 17-old-girl by Texas state district judge Lauri Blake.

She's ordered the young drug offender not have sex as long as she is living with her parents and attending school, as a condition of her probation.

It is one of several unorthodox rulings Judge Lauri Blake has imposed since she was elected 10 months ago in the district court that covers Fannin and Grayson counties.

She has also prohibited tattoos, body piercings, earrings and clothing "associated with the drug culture" for those on probation.

Lawyers are also subject to her rulings. Blake has the told female attorneys not wear sleeveless shirts or show cleavage in her courtroom.

Blake agreed to an interview but later declined through her court coordinator.

[thoughtomator]

Can a judge make an order about something where Congress is prohibited from making a law on that subject?

[InsureAmerica]

you mean, if congress is prohibited from making a law saying no 17 year olds shall have sex, then can a judge tell a 17 year old - no sex?

I think the answer is yes.

[LoudRepublicangirl]

pandering


I don't have a problem with this judge setting this probation. It's not just about money.

[mysterio]

Parents can choose a child's Tv shows and bedtime. Should a judge be able to choose the child's Tv shows and bed time, as well? I mean, as part of probation and all. The child can always pick jail.

[calex59]

People who don't read the article should not post. The judge is female not male. You obviously didn't read past the first word of the article.

[Labyrinthos]

Lawyers are also subject to her rulings. Blake has the told female attorneys not to wear sleeveless shirts or show cleavage in her courtroom.

She also told female attorneys that effective January 1, 2006, they will have to cover their heads and faces with a towel and walk two steps behind male attorneys.

[bk1000]

Your comments mimic my up-bringing exactly. Thank goodness for parents who will be parents instead of tring to be their child's 'friend'!

What was the Mark Twain quote? "When I was 17 I thought my father was an idiot, but at 21 I was surprised at how much he had learned in just 4 years."

[tertiary01]

Chastity Belts reportedly worked real well in the 19th century. Might be a good time for bringing em back.

[thoughtomator]

I don't think that is the case. Isn't the breadth of the judge's discretion proscribed by law?

[InsureAmerica]

Yes, but not in it's entirety and especially as regards the specifics of a particular situation. For example, mandatory minimum sentences come to mind as an example of restrictions on 'discretion'. But especially regarding this issue of probation, a judge must decide first, whether probation is an option, and second, what are the conditions. You will have everything from delinquency/hooliganism to manslaughter/murder, so how would it be possible to have a law that would cover every situation for every defendant that came before all judges? There would be no need for judges at all. Just put the guilty party into the appropriate category and follow the law. It is simply that a judge must set approprate conditions if probation is to be offered. The question here is, were the conditions set by this particular judge in this particular case activist/appropriate? Seem to be two schools of thought here.

[TKDietz]

I suppose it depends on the case. I have seen judges make orders regarding bed times and watching R rated movies. These were juvenile cases where parents were complaining about children being out of control. The parents didn't want the kids watching R rated movies or the child would refuse to wake up for school because he would stay up all night. Most judges take the position, and rightfully so, that a child needs to do what his parents say.

I don't think though that judges should micromanage children's lives. I'm certainly not advocating that. In fact, I think judges have too much power in juvenile cases. Once a kid gets in juvenile court, whether it's because he committed a crime and was found delinquent or because he is out of control and a parent or guardian or the school causes a petition to be filed seeking court supervision of the child, the parent or guardian really loses a great deal of their authority over their child. The court in many ways takes the place of the parent or guardian, and in many cases starts telling the parent or guardian how to raise the child. Parents or guardians generally have to take parenting classes and participate in counseling with the child and so on even if they never did anything wrong and even if they don't like or agree with the "services" being provided to them and their children. If the parents don't cooperate, they're liable to go to jail or get community service or some other sanction. If they don't agree with the judge or the social workers about how their children should be raised, tough.

I don't like this at all, but I don't make the laws. If judges overstep their bounds, I think lawyers and their clients should strongly consider appealing the cases. I've certainly appealed cases for clients under those circumstances and I will do it again.

I am a criminal defense attorney and one of the things I do is represent juveniles in delinquency and "family in need of services" cases. I end up handling better than ninety percent of those cases in the small county where I work as a public defender, in addition to handling hundreds of adult felony and misdemeanor cases every year. Most of the time, at least where I practice law, the juvenile judge is reasonable as are the the juvenile workers. I'm lucky to work with a bunch of people who have their hearts in the right place. I don't always agree with the juvenile workers or the judge, but for the most part people are treated fairly.

The goal is to turn lives around and nip problems in the bud and I think everyone involved where I work is working toward that goal with integrity and professionalism. I don't have to work these juvenile cases but I do it in addition to my normal caseload because I enjoy it and it is some of the most rewarding work I do.

[ExSES]

Judge Orders 17-Year-Old Girl Not To Have Sex

Open season for the old jokes about chastity belts and locksmiths???

[Rightly Biased]

Both of you finnaly get my point. where are the parents? and it should be up to them to insure that their daughter doesn't have sex not our nanny state court system

[Rightly Biased]

If you will read my first comment I correctly called the judge a female. people that don't read everything else shouldn't cast stones.

[TKDietz]

Have you considered the possibility that maybe the parents wanted the judge to include these conditions? When I saw that the judge said the juvenile wasn't to do these things "as long as she is living with her parents and attending school," it made me suspect that the parents had complained about these activities and wanted help from the court in enforcing their rules. That happens all the time. Some kids are just beyond their parents control and out of desperation parents ask the court to step in and help. I would not be surprised at all to learn that all of this about sex and tattoos and so on came from the parents. How else would the judge have known about all of these things going on in the child's life? Most likely the judge ordered exactly what the parents wanted him to order. If that was the case, would you still have a problem with it?

[TKDietz]

"Most likely the judge ordered exactly what the parents wanted him to order."

Should have read : "Most likely the judge ordered exactly what the parents wanted _her_ to order."

[thoughtomator]

It seems to me that there has to be some limit on the range of tools in a judge's "probation condition" toolkit. Could he order that someone ride a roller coaster as a condition of his probation? Wash the judge's car?

[InsureAmerica]

I can see washing a car, don't know about a roller coaster, but maybe in the right case. It is quite common that someone gets sentenced to community service and end up clearing trash from the side of the road, wearing a sign that says "convicted drunk driver" painting buildings, serving food to homeless people, etc. I see a lot of this. What happened to the run-away bride? last I saw she was raking the yard in front of a school or courthouse or something to do her community service, so I don't think it's that uncommon. Obviously these people prefer these conditions to doing a stint in the slammer. I imagine if it would be something so ridiculous and inappropriate, they wouldn't accept it as a condition and would fight it legally.....but I would agree that certainly there are some limits, yes.

[ChefKeith]

So this NAZIjudge is going to do what?

Have the girl get her vagina sewn shut, gag her mouth and tie her up till she is 18

[calex59]

People who don't remember that they wrote female the first time shouldn't post again! :) We could do this all day, right? Actually, my apologies, maybe I will try reading all the posts next time!