Judge Brenda Branch in Halifax County, N.C., was not satisfied with simply sentencing Tonie Marie King, 21, for drunk and disorderly. So Branch sentenced her to write an essay entitled “How a Lady Should Behave in Public.” As with most shaming or novel sentences, Branch was instantly a national celebrity receiving praise from people for caring enough to fashion her own brand of justice. I am not one of them. As many of you know, I have long been a critic of such sentencing where judges seem to merge law and entertainment to the thrill of citizens. Judges are not appointed or elected to instruct women on being ladies like some Miss Manners issuing advice from a criminal docket.
I have repeatedly written against the use of shaming and novel sentencing by judges around the country (here and here and here). Judges often thrill the public by imposing their own forms of justices — departing from conventional criminal sentences to force people to clean courtrooms with toothbrushes, wear demeaning placards, or carry out publicly humiliating tasks. These judges often develop a taste for such power and the public acclaim that unfortunately comes from humiliating people.
As with other judges imposing her own flavor of justice, Branch sentenced the woman and then took to the air for interviews. She explained “We don’t have a whole lot of resources out here, so I try to be creative.”
King had pleaded guilty to being drunk and disruptive as well as resisting a police officer outside a convenience store. She was also accused of stealing a beer before struggling with a police officer. That does not seem like a problem with being “a lady” but being a felon.
However, Branch wanted the woman to do what she wanted as opposed what the criminal code states. So she sentenced King to 45 days in jail and suspended the sentence in lieu of a one-year supervised probation and her essay. Branch has previously made kids write essays but now is branching out to adults. In Fairfax county, ladies need to act more like Lady Halifax who was not seen stealing grog or kicking police officers in the eighteenth century.
The suspended sentence is the common tactic used for these judges. Citizens who want to avoid jail have to consent to the novel sentencing and thereby ruin their chances for appeal. They get to stay out of jail, the judge gets to appear in the newspaper, and the public gets to enjoy the story. No one seems concern over how different judges may define a proper lady and how such notions can invite sexist or cultural bias. Consider the lessons on raising a lady by Pastor Jack Hyles :
“The women’s liberation notwithstanding most men still want someone ladylike and feminine for a wife. To be sure, all good Christian men want submissive, feminine, ladylike, and godly wives. Yet, we live in a society which wants to homogenize the sexes.”
Pastor Hyles offers a variety of pieces of advice:
1. Dress her like a girl. Let her have long hair. Let her wear lace and ribbons. Do not let her wear that which pertaineth to a man. Deuteronomy 22:5 says, “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.”
2. Teach her strict obedience. . . . Whereas the boy is being trained to be a leader, the girl is being trained to be a follower. Hence, obedience is far more important to her, for she must someday transfer it from her parents to her husband.
3. She should not be allowed to play alone with boys. . . .She should participate in sports enough to become coordinated but she should not excel in sports. If later she marries a man who is very athletic, she could become more proficient in some particular sport that he enjoys, but if she becomes an expert in a sport that is usually associated with men and boys, it could prove embarrassing to her future husband, and for that matter, it could entice her to become more masculine than she ought to be.
. . .
5. Teach her to be an intelligent listener and an articulate conversationalist. She should read a variety of good books and magazines and have a wide variety of knowledge. . . This means that she should learn all she can about everything, especially things that interest men. For example, she should know football, but she should not play it. There is nothing a man wants any more than to be understood by an intelligent listener.
Well you get the idea . . .
These novel sentences are increasing because the media loves these stories and fuels the trend with publicity for the judges. It is a symbiotic relationship that is undermining the quality of justice in this country.
It is not clear if Lyle Lovett appeared as a witness at the proceedings:
Source: LA Times
When what the defendant probably needed was to be sentenced to an anger management and/or alcohol class. She needs to not drink and go out in public, or not drink at all. The judge missed the boat on this one but her Facebook following probably spiked up.
Hey, Judge Judy fan here, you guys are being too harsh.
The pastor is from 18th or 19th century?
I would tell the judge that I preferred the statute specified penalty of 45 days, and see it as great opportunity to do research on the plight of incarcerated women.
lol
I like it, Darren.
How about the defendant take the judge’s choice and write the following essay:
How to be a Lady
A lady is a most respected person in society. She offers herself to the public as an example of what is proper and fitting in society. She advances herself as an example, perhaps taking instruction in the rules and laws of our country especially in respecting the constitution. She also wears appropriate robes and attire for her position and has the discipline and humility to follow the laws and conduct codes for her position. If she is in a position to judge others, she does not succumb to any inner need to make her a celebrity in the mind of the public and tempers justice equally and without arbitrary decisions or unusual punishments. She respects the right of the defendant to the ordinary course of justice as her peers would do equally. And she would do so objectively, anonymously, and without want of self promotion.
That is how to be a lady.
~+~
And then, the defendant will have fulfilled the terms of her conviction.
Dog,
In all fairness, we see the same kind of “creative sentencing” from male judges in this forum quite frequently. That being said, I do have to agree that Judge Judy is a clown. That, however, is predicated on her actions rather than on her plumbing.
Really? In the 21st century?
I am sick and tired of these women judges with their own brand of misery. That clown called Judge Judy is one example. The big one in the Z trial. Up there itchinBay instead of doing justice. And Justice Ginsberg with that fruit looking robe with the white chalice. She is copying Judge Judy. If I was a big fat hog I would hide under a robe like that Florida Z trial judge. Issue the rulings and quit the mommy dearest apCray.
I sentence Judge Brenda Branch to write an essay on how a judge should behave.
Nitwit.
And I’ll second the excellent usage of Lyle Lovett.
Having been a Texas trial court judge for some 18 years I can say the Mr Turley is correct. Sentencing is a function of using punishments prescribed by law. Time to be incarcerated. Fines to pay. Community service to perform. It is not a time or place for imposing some whimsical notion of penance. That is for the confessional.
Lyle Lovett is my wife’s favorite performer. She’s seen him several times. On this post, I would dub this behavior JIO[Judge Ito Syndrome].
I would strongly consider taking the 45 days and telling the judge to go pound sand…this kind of thing is really an abuse of power and position.
However, if I “were” to do the essay, it should simply read: “Legally, like anyone else.”
And btw… Lyle Lovett is under appreciated and awesome, nice usage 🙂
Elaine,
I like Billy Joel much more than Lyle Lovett! This judge should be in a different profession. I have seen this kind of “justice” in court and it always amazed me. I saw a judge ask a misdemeanor defendant to take off his Notre Dame sweatshirt and if he did, he would dismiss the charges. The young man immediately took off the shirt and the ND alum judge was happy.
I’m with Catana. I’d have told her which orifice to jam it in and how far.
And of course, that sentence would be doubled (at least).
I think it’s time once again to post the following Harry Enfield video:
Women: Know Your Limits!
Always a Woman to Me ~ Billy Joel
The problem with this ridiculous kind of judicial behavior is that it is rewarded by a public and media that have no concept of legal propriety. Had Anton Scalia’s judicial pretensions been limited to this type of local Judgeship, he would be imposing this kind of sentence, but added incarceration with it.
Sometime.. And I mean sometimes…. There are valid reasons to set outside the robe…. So to speak…
LOL. After she steps down from the bench she can open “Miss Branch’s School For Poise and Etiquette.”
I’m afraid that if I were in King’s place, I would be very tempted to say “F–k you, judge, I’ll take the 45 days.”
It just goes to prove in a culture that sees women as appropriate targets for shaming and control even female judges are happy to engage in gender specific punishment that demeans women.