Attorney Benjamin Bycel suggests some unusual penalties for crime in the Los Angeles Times:
A 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision this week has made these fantastical “what ifs” a little more realistic. It upheld a lower court’s decision to punish a convicted San Francisco mail thief by having him stand for one day outside a post office, wearing a sign that said, “I stole mail. This is my punishment.” He also received jail time.
In their appeal, the mail thief’s lawyers argued that wearing a sign in public amounted merely to “humiliation as an end in itself” and was unreasonable, a violation of sentencing guidelines. But two of the three judges on the 9th Circuit panel disagreed, holding that, among other things, public shame could relate to rehabilitation.
Bycel suggests Ken Lay walk through Houston “wearing a sandwich board that reads: “I cheated my shareholders, employees and retirees.” Sounds right, if Lay is convicted, and if he’s wearing an orange jumpsuit.