Miscellaneous

What If They Had Community Service and Nobody Came?

By Anne Skove, Esq.

Community service is a common sentence. We've all seen people picking up litter, working in public libraries, and teaching in public schools to repay their debt to society.

In Cincinnati, a protester said no thanks to a community service sentence, opting for jail instead. Community service is something some people do every day, and this woman is no exception. She chose ten days in jail.

Like a vegetarian during Lent, she faced a problem: what's the best punishment?

We wonder whether judges ever take this into account. So far as we've noticed, they do not. Should missionaries, volunteer rescue squad members, teachers, librarians, activists, Eagle Scouts, and other do-gooders get stricter sentences, because they already punish themselves every day? Or lighter sentences, because their debt to society is smaller due to their good works? Or should courts treat them just like any errant pro sports player or starlet?

See Chabot Protesters Sentenced, Cincinnati Enquirer (August 30, 2008).

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on August 30, 2008 (boomark / email).