The Weirdest Punishments Given Out By Judges

1. Get To Church

Image source InsiderIn 2013, a drunk teen from Oklahoma named Tyler Alred, smashed his truck and tragically killed his friend.  The parents of the deceased urged the judge not to ruin Alred's life with a long prison sentence so, instead, the judge ordered him to refrain from alcohol and tobacco for 12 months and attend church for the next 10 years!  Tyler was already a regular churchgoer so that aspect of his punishment was seen as lenient in his eyes.

2. Buckle Up

Image source Daily MailA New Mexico judge presided over the case of a mother who was ticketed because her son wasn't wearing a seat belt.  The woman protested to the judge that every time she buckled him in he kept undoing it. . Sensing a teaching moment, the judge sentenced the boy to attend a seat belt safety traffic school class which, obviously, his mother went to as well.

3. Sign Of The Times

Image source Marvin FongShena Hardin from Cleveland disobeyed the 'STOP' sign on a school bus which was letting off students.  Hardin drove on to the pathway to get past the bus and this dangerous move resulted in her losing her licence and being fined.  She also had to hold up a sign that read. 'Only an idiot would drive on the sidewalk to avoid a school bus.'

4. Cut It Out

Image source PinterestA Colorado judge used a clever way to punish a 13-yearold girl who made friends with a 3 year old and cut off her ponytail for no reason.  He sentenced the teenager to a month in a detention centre and 300 hours of community service.  However, he then told the girl's mother that if she cut off her own daughter's ponytail, he would reduce the punishment.  The mother did so and then felt so bad that she filed a case against the judge!

5. Read This Page

Image source Houston ChronicleTexas doesn’t tolerate any form of crime so when Judge Kevin Fine presided over the case of Daniel and Eloise Mireles who were convicted of embezzling $255,000 from a crime victim's fund, he thought long and hard about the punishment.  They received the standard sentence of paying the money back and community service but the judge also made them pin a sign to their front door which read 'The occupants of this residence, Daniel and Eloise Mireles, are convicted thieves.'

6. Cat Punishment

Image source Wallpaperswide.comIn 2005, Michelle Murray was convicted of leaving 35 kittens in a park, resulting in 9 deaths and multiple incidents of starvation.  Judge Cicconetti gave Murray several options, a fine, 2 weeks in jail, house arrest for 15 days or spending a night in the woods without camping equipment or food.  Murray took the night in the woods but was permitted to build a fire as it was a freezing November night.

7. Book Of Sin

Image source Cvillefirst.orgIn 2012, Cassandra Belle Tolley of South Carolina drove whilst drunk and hit another car of 2 passengers.  Judge Michael Nettles passed her 5 years probation along with 8 years in jail.  he also had to undertake drug counselling. and drug abuse counselling.   He then asked Tolley if she would agree to read the book of Job in the Old Testament.  It's a book that chronicles a man who suffers many calamities, but stays faithful to God and is rewarded in the end.

8. Get A Job!

Image source FreepikBack in 2011, a 25-year-old Spanish man in Andalusia took his parents to court for stopping his allowance@ The man’s parents wanted him to get a job and stop relying on them for support.  Instead of restoring the man’s allowance, the judge reversed the case and ordered the man to leave his parent’s house within 30 days and get a job. The judge said that the man was fit and capable of working and that his parents had no obligation to provide him with pocket money.

9. Clear Up Or Clear Out

Image source Birmingham LiveThe city of Cleveland is known as being one of the unluckiest sports towns in the U.S., and is also known because one of its rivers caught on fire. In 2008, a landlord, Nicholas Dionisopoulos, was brought up on charges of failing to observe the proper building codes in his many rental homes.  Residents were living in broken down houses for years so Judge Ray Pianka sentenced Dionisopoulos to live in one of the rundown rental homes for 6 months, fined him $100,000, and ordered him to use rent payments to repair the property.

10. A Bland Diet

Image source PinterestTexas is a State filled with big ranches, farms and plenty of horses. Two of those horses were the subject of an unusual case in 2005, in which a Texas woman, Melissa Dawn Sweeney, who owned them, was accused of starving them. Judge Mike Peters sentenced her to a month in jail and ordered jail officials to mount giant photos of the starving horses on Sweeney’s cell door.  Also, as a punishment, Sweeney was only allowed bread and water for the first three days of her jail term.

11. Rob You Blind

Image source PinterestMichael A. Cicconetti, an Ohio judge, known for his weird sentences, stayed true to form in the case of Jeremy Sherwood, an 18 year-old who stole porn from an adult video store. Sherwood was sentenced to stand outside the store, blindfolded, for 3 days with a sign, 'See no evil.'  It was either that or 30 days in jail.  The criminal chose the 3 day option.

12. Making An ‘A**’ Out Of Yourself

Mirror.co.ukLet’s stay with Cicconetti for yet another strange punishment that would fit the crime. In 2003, Brian Patrick and Jessica Lange were charged with vandalizing a baby Jesus statue in a nativity scene outside a church.  As well as a 45 day stint in the county jail as well as drug and alcohol counselling, they had to walk a donkey in public with a sign, 'Sorry for the jacka** offence.'

13. Any ID?

Image source Hubpages.comJudge Michael Holbrook of central Ohio isn’t one to be messed with. When Bettina Young appeared in his court in 2013, convicted of providing falsified ID cards and licenses to illegal immigrants, she was sentenced to 5 years probation and the judge added on 3 days in jail before, during and after Christmas for each of the 5 years that Young was on probation.  Violation of the sentence would result in an automatic 15 year prison term.

14. Face the Music

Image source Kunr.comIn 2008, Andrew Vactor of Urbana, Ohio was fined $150 for blasting his rap music at illegally high levels.  Vactor had the choice, by the judge, of a fine or listening to 20 hours of classical music.  He went for the music but had enough of Beethoven after 15 minutes and paid the fine instead.

15. Anyone Got A Pen?

Image source Huffingtonpost.comIn 2013, Ohio teen, Matthew Hermann was convicted of tying a noose around the neck of a black student and yelling racial abuse at him.  Judge James Linn sentenced Hermann gave him 2 years probation and he had to write an essay about lynching in America.  Hermann was also sentenced to take part in a peace making circle with his victim and school counsellors.

16. 'Could It Be Magic?

Image source TicketmasterIn the town of Fort Lupton, Judge Paul Sacco gives people who blast their car stereos too loud a taste of their own medicine by forcing them to listen to blaring music of artists the culprits would never dream of hearing by choice.  The music included Dolly Parton, Barry Manilow, classical music and nursery rhymes!

17.  Too Short For Jail

Image source Next LuxuryA convicted child molester, Richard W. Thompson aged 50, was given 10 years probation in lieu of prison time.  Sounds strange for such a serious crime but the judge's reasoning was that, as the criminal was only 5 feet 1 inch tall and he would be in danger from other cell mates because of the crime he committed, being so short in height would make him too vulnerable if he were to be locked up.

18. Dressed In Drag

Image source QuoraJudge David Hostetler gave Jason Householder and John Stockum two options of punishment for throwing beer bottles at a woman in a car.  They could either choose 60 days in jail or an hour of walking through downtown Coshocton in dresses, wigs and makeup. They chose the dresses. The punishment was a means to teaching the young men to respect women.

19. No Girlfriend

Image source QuoraArrested for attacking his ex-girlfriend, Canadian Steven Cranley, 24, was declared by doctors to have difficulty coping with rejection.  Judge Rhys Morgan ordered him to refrain from 'a romantic relationship of an intimate nature with a female person' for 3 years. During that time, he received counselling, but half way through his sentence, he again assaulted another female acquaintance and was sentenced to 2 years in jail.

20. Marry....Or Else

 Image source CheckMyDreamA New Delhi court asked a rape victim to consider marrying her attacker because she’d have few other options due to the stigma of being raped.  Yes, you read that right. If she agreed, the mans sentence would be reduced.  Thankfully, she refused the offer and the rapist got life in jail.

21.  You're All Arrested

Image source Twenty20Judge Robert Restaino went crazy one day in 2005 when he heard a mobile phone ringing in his courtroom. When the offender didn’t step forward to confess, the judge arrested all 46 people an ordered them to stay in jail for 24 hours.  They were released later that day and the judge, who said he had been under great personal strain, took early retirement.

22. Haunted By A Photo

Image source The GuardianIn Pennsylania, when Jennifer Langston, 27, was convicted of drink driving and causing the accident that killed Glenn Clark and put his pregnant wife in a coma, she was only sentenced to 30 days in jail but was forced to carry of photo of the victim, in his coffin (supplied by his mother) for 5 years.

23. Tee-shirt Says It All

Image source Tee PublicConvicted of exposing himself to 10-year-old girl, Delaware resident Russell Teeter was sentenced to 60 days in jail.  On his release, as part of the sentence, he had to wear a tee-shirt which read 'I am a registered sex offender' for 22 month.  Considering that he exposed himself a dozen times over the years, he got off lightly.

24. Costly Hot Dog

Image source Wally GobetzIn February 2014, Rickey Joe Moore was caught on a convenience store surveillance camera filling up a fountain drink, walking to the rotisserie, pulling out a hot dog frank, and hiding it in his pocket.  He paid for the drink, only, and left.  He was arrested on a felony theft charge and faced up to 3 years in prison.  Seems harsh but that's Indiana's law.

25. Burglary to BASE

Darren Kersey, a homeless man in Sarasota, Florida, was charged with theft and thrown in jail when he used a public picnic area to charge his phone. The officer who carried out the arrest, Anthony Frangioni, defended his actions by saying it was theft of city utilities and could not be tolerated in these economic times.  A bit harsh to say the least especially as the man had to stump up $500 bail.  He couldn't pay so spent the night in jail.

27. Sweating It Out

PinterestIn 2008, 89 year old Heidi Kohl was fed up with nearby neighbours parking outside her house and blocking her way.  One evening, when she had been irritated yet again, she slashed the tyres of 6 cars near her property.  She was spotted and reported to the police.  As she was unable to pay the fine and costs to the residents she took it upon herself to knit sweaters and sell them, giving the proceeds towards new tyres.

28. Domestic Abuse

Image source QuoraIn 1995, Scott Hancock was  accused of punching then-girlfriend Yvonne Sevier in the mouth and was ordered by Judge Albert Mestemaker to marry his victim within 9 months of his sentencing because it backed 'traditional American values'.  He agreed and then backed out, saying  it was his right.  He received a suspended sentence.

29. Don't Chicken Out

Image source Pinterest

Three men, convicted of picking up prostitutes, were spared jail by agreeing to wear chicken suits and wander around the local parking lot for 3 hours.  The sign they had to wear said, ' No Chicken Ranch In Painesville', a spoof from 'Best Little Whorehouse in Texas' where ladies of the night accepted poultry products instead of cash.

30. Sorry, Sorry, Sorry .....

Image source Portable PressA woman broke into a church in Ohio and stole money from the charity tins which had just been collected and were ready for counting.  She had even worshipped at this place of worship in the past so it's even more despicable.  Her punishment from the court was to spell out an apology in coins, in front of the church.