[Turbopilot]

Thanks for posting the full article, which, assuming it is true and complete, certainly makes it appear that these girls ran into a judge who got his feelings hurt and wanted to make an example. It's one thing to be a "hangin' judge" for murder and rape, but for an 18-year-old blowing a .02?

The girls were idiots for going to court without a lawyer and thinking that just crying for the judge would smooth things over.

It sounded like only the first girl tried to do that. Of course, without a lawyer, the judge could easily give her all the rope she needed to hang herself and her friends too. Naturally, she got the heaviest sentence. The others appeared with lawyers, but probably on the basis of the blubbery admissions of the first one, the best they could do was less jail time.

Drinking before prom? Dumb.
Posting identifying information on the Internet? Dumber.
An 18-year-old trying to represent herself in criminal court? Dumbest. And she took her friends down with her.

[JeffAtlanta]

An 18-year-old trying to represent herself in criminal court? Dumbest. And she took her friends down with her.

No doubt this girl was used to getting her way by acting vulnerable and turning on the tears. I seriously doubt that she has a drinking problem - she just wanted to appear very contrite, vulnerable and say what the judge wanted to hear.

I agree that she took the others down with her. With a lawyer she would have be informed what tactics work and which ones don't. Throwing yourself at the mercy of the court is never a good idea.

This judge should really stop hearing cases about underage drinking since he has such a personal stake in it. How can he really issue fair and unbiased rulings when he is an activist in the area?