Judge orders Cleveland woman to wear an ‘idiot’ ...

NYDailyNews ^ | 11/6/2012 | PHILIP CAULFIELD

[South40]

Judge orders Cleveland woman to wear an ‘idiot’ sign after she was caught driving on a sidewalk to avoid a school bus

(Title too long for FR so I was forced to shorten it)

A Cleveland woman must wear a sign labeling her as an “idiot” after she was caught driving on a sidewalk to avoid stopping for a school bus as it dropped children off, a judge ordered.

Shena Hardin, 32, pulled the off-road move twice to avoid stopping for the students, local WEWS-TV reported. The bus driver, Uriah Herron, shot video of Hardin pulling the maneuver in her silver Jeep in east Cleveland on the first day of school in September.

[faithhopecharity]

it also violates the First amendment’s freedom of speech clause (freedom of speech includes the right not to be forced to speak)

but nevertheless it is a very fitting punishment

[VanShuyten]

I highly doubt wearing an idiot sign is usual.

It has to be cruel AND unusual. Embarrassing, yes, but not cruel.

[oh8eleven]

She only got 30 days revocation of her driver’s license.
Doesn't matter whether it's 30 days or 300 days. Do you really think she's not going to drive anyway?

[roadcat]

Judge should have made her wear a sign saying “Kick me, I’m an idiot!”. That would be punishment the rest of us could participate in.

[Navy Patriot]

The judge should have had IDIOT tattooed on her forehead so she could complain when she saw it was written backward.

[bgill]

Good for the judge.

[Tublecane]

“She only got 30 days revocation of her driver’s license. The judge might have told her she was going to get 6 months revocation unless she agreed”

I assumed something of the sort. But then that’s coercion. They can’t, or shouldn’t, induce you to give up constitutional protection by threatening something worse. Of course she’ll never sue, because she got off easy.

[Hardraade]

Can he do that? How come no judge has ordered Obama to wear one of those?

[Cicero]

Hey! That wasn’t the woman’s fault. The SUV did it!

[dfwgator]

Judge orders Cleveland woman to wear an ‘idiot’ sign after she was caught driving on a sidewalk to avoid a school bus

Just make her wear an Obama shirt.....same thing.

[South40]

Video Here

[FoxInSocks]

He successfully challenged the the sentence on the grounds that no government entity can force a person to admit guilt to a crime

Being an idiot isn't a crime yet, though. ;-)

Interesting old job -- how long did you last typing those up?

[Repeat Offender]

Actually, it is "cruel AND unusual punishment." We just need to make some punishments "usual."

[mrsmel]

Their having kids themselves is no guarantee of responsible behavior (in many cases these days, it’s proof of quite the opposite!) Some woman in Georgia hit a little girl, then backed up over her again in order to maneuver her car. She killed her of course. The woman who did this had kids of her own. IIRC, she got pretty much a slap on the wrist for doing it.

But I know what you meant. Back when kids implied a married (to each other) father and mother, it probably meant more.

[Nevermore]

Not sayin’ it’s right or wrong, but do the same thing to your rebellious kid and you’d probably be rung up by Children’s Services.

[Tublecane]

“It has to be cruel AND unusual”

I always wondered about that. Obviously an “or” would help my reading. But let me ask you, if the punishment had to be both to be unconstitutional couldn’t we legalize torture by making it usual? Does anybody read the amendment that way? I don’t see any reason why cruel alone should be outlawed but not unusual alone.

I’m not making this distinction up, by the way. It’s right there in case law. Punishment that is by its severity degrading to human dignity is forbidden, without reference to regularity. Unnecessary punishment is forbidden, without reference to regularity. We can have it your way, but then things are gonna get messy.

[Peet]

I never understand why judges are able to get away with this under the 8th amendment. Don’t get me wrong, it can be very useful to let the punishment fit the crime. But there it is in black and white, and unusual punishment is unconstitutional. I highly doubt wearing an idiot sign is usual.

Amendment 8 - Cruel and Unusual Punishment:

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

While I agree the punishment levied is "unusual" I think we can pass on the "cruel and" part if the punishment has to be both.

[GeronL]

They should revoke her license, give her 1,000 community service cleaning sewage, make her watch as her jeep is crushed into a cube, a new coffee table, and THEN make her wear the sign

[Tublecane]

“if the punishment has to be both”

But it doesn’t, or not according to SCOTUS. They will rule punishments unconstitutional for cruelty alone, trust me. So why do we get the merely cruel but not the merely unusual?

[LADY J]

Most little kids walk around the front of thr bus to get to the sidewalk. This woman is tooling right along, not even thinking a kid might just appear out of the blue.

With the brain reactions she has - the kid would surely be a dead one.