Crime

No Sex Till You're Married. Punishment That Fits The Crime?

Some judges, however, take the alternative-sentencing idea too far.

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JudgeJudges have the final word on the sentence a defendant receives. Some crimes require mandatory minimum sentencing which prevents the judge from giving less time or dolling out anything other than jail. But many crimes, for the most part misdemeanors, have a wide scope of sentencing possibilities giving the judge leeway to get very creative.

Some obvious examples: Make the kid who’s inked up buildings throughout his neighborhood wash off the graffiti. Have the guy who peed in the park, pick up garbage there for a day. Ask the shoplifter to write a report about how his crime makes everybody’s prices higher. These “alternative” sentences make sense, are reasonably related to the offense committed and are not unduly burdensome. Some judges, however, take the alternative-sentencing idea too far.

A well-known municipal court judge in Painesville Ohio, Michael Cicconetti, is a case in point. As a sentence for a couple rafting unregistered on Grand River, Ohio, without life preservers, he made them stand in a kiddie pool in bathing suits at a town fair and hand out water-safety brochures. Kids who defaced a Christmas nativity scene by writing “666” on the head of the baby Jesus, were forced to walk through the town leading a donkey that bore the sign, “Sorry for the jackass offense.” Then there was the guy the media called “pig man.” Because he was arrested for shouting obscenities at police, he was sentenced to stand next to a pig with a sign reading, “This is Not a Police Officer.”

These kinds of creative sentences are most popular in small district courts with lower level judges who often see repeat offenders and believe that humiliation is a good way to fend off future bad acts.

Less funny and more challenging is the sentence given recently given to an 18 year old in Twin Falls, Idaho, found guilty of rape.

Cody Duane Scott Herrera, 17 at the time of the incident, had quietly climbed through a fellow teen’s bedroom window “to watch TV,” he said. One thing led to another and when it was discovered they’d had sex, Herrera was arrested and charged with rape. The young girl was only 14.

Herrera was sentenced to a year of programs and treatment which included the condition that he would be forbidden from having sex with anyone except for a spouse. If he fails, he be sentenced for five to fifteen years jail.

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Wow. That’s a pretty tall order. And how will such a restriction be monitored? A body bracelet with 24/7 camera to track his every move? Cameras in his bedroom, and posted around the house?

District Judge Randy Stoker felt the sentence was necessary when Mr. Herrera admitted he had had 34 sexual partners by age 19. (To some, not such an outrageous number.)

The restriction is reminiscent of the sentence given to Alan Turing, the brilliant English scientist who invented the Turing machine to decipher coded German messages in World War Two. In 1952, Turing was prosecuted in England for having engaged in “homosexual acts.” Rather than be sentenced to prison, he accepted a punishment of chemical castration. He died two years later from cyanide poisoning, presumed to have been self-inflicted.

In the Herrera case, legal experts believe that if the sentence, prohibiting him from having sex except with his spouse, were to be appealed, it would be overturned. Still, the alternative a sentence of five to 15 years in jail, might make the wait worthwhile.

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Toni Messina has been practicing criminal defense law since 1990, although during law school she spent one summer as an intern in a large Boston law firm and realized quickly it wasn’t for her. Prior to attending law school, she worked as a journalist from Rome, Italy, reporting stories of international interest for CBS News and NPR. She keeps sane by balancing her law practice with a family of three children, playing in a BossaNova band, and dancing flamenco. She can be reached by email at tonimessinalw@gmail.com or tonimessinalaw.com, and you can also follow her on Twitter: @tonitamess.

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