What do you think of this? Shawn Gementera pleaded guilty to mail theft in 2001 after stealing mail out of people’s mailboxes in San Francisco, Calif., and was sentenced to, among other things, wear a sign in public which reads, “I stole mail.” The Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal.
In 2003, Gementera was sentenced by a district judge to two months in jail, to be followed by three years of supervised release.
The release conditions stated that Gementera must spend four days at a post office observing staff dealing with inquiries about lost or stolen mail, write letters of apology to the victims of his crime and give three lectures about his crime at schools.
The judge also ordered him to wear a signboard reading “I stole mail — this is my punishment” for a full eight-hour working day.
Gementera appealed about the latter requirement, but a US appeals court panel ruled against him earlier this year.
The court said in August that the record in Gementera’s case showed the judge imposed the condition for the purpose of rehabilitation.
“Punishments aimed at imposing shame and humiliation are inconsistent with a constitutional requirement that punishments, even for heinous crimes, be consistent with human dignity,” Gementera’s lawyers were quoted by Reuters news agency when appealing to the Supreme Court. — BBC News
The Supreme Court turned down his appeal without comment.
I’m interested in your opinions. Should Gementera have been required to wear a sign saying he stole mail? Is this sort of punishment appropriate at all? Does it achieve the intended effect of rehabilitation? Or is it simply public humiliation without purpose?
Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works license.
Video published by this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Sampling+ license.
Bad Behavior has blocked 3286 access attempts in the last 7 days.
Facebook
Digg
del.icio.us
reddit.com
Newsvine
Fatboy
Nov 28, 2005
Should Gementera have been required to wear a sign saying he stole mail?
Sure, why not?
Is this sort of punishment appropriate at all?
Not really. It’s *WAY* to lenient.
Does it achieve the intended effect of rehabilitation?
No, but it does give some punishment. To rehabilitate someone would require mind control or brain washing. Good luck trying either on sociopaths.
The best we can do is make the potential punishment outweigh the benefit of committing criminal acts.
Or is it simply public humiliation without purpose?
No, it is punishment.
Firas
Nov 29, 2005
People are crazy. I bet if the judge had his way the guy would be burnt at the stake, or drawn and quartered.
splot
Nov 29, 2005
You know from my previous replies what I think: most methods of punishment don’t work, I think a social stigma will work along with other methods to deter crime.
runner1212
Nov 30, 2005
I think they should have dipped him in brown gravy and feathered him
Mark J
Dec 04, 2005
Unusual, but not cruel. Burning at the stake, now that would be cruel.
Anonymous
Oct 10, 2006
i think public humiliaton is a good thing so yeah
Shawn-Earnest
Mar 01, 2010
It all depends.
you.did.it.to.yourself.
May 07, 2010
his punishment was not cruel or unusual, if he hadn’t commit the crime he wouldn’t be in this situation so he just needs to suck it up and take his consequences like a man instead of being a baby