Sunday, May 25, 1997
Judge using creative sentencing on teens
By JULIE FORE / Abilene Reporter-News
BRECKENRIDGE - "Walk it off" has long been the standard
cure ordered by coaches for everything from leg cramps to pre-game
jitters.
Now a Stephens County judge is using the tactic to fight alcohol
use by minors.
Justice of the Peace Lynne Duggan recently began sentencing
minors convicted of possessing alcohol to walk around Stephens
County Courthouse all day carrying a sign with a message to other
juveniles.
The sign says, "Minors: Don't have alcohol in your possession
or you will be carrying this sign, too."
A young offender lugging the sign earlier this week told a
reporter this was his third MIP conviction. He said he was embarrassed
to be carrying the sign, but was doing it so he could get out
of jail sooner.
He forced a smile and waved when friends drove by and honked.
Duggan said the 18-year-old defendant was already paying out
a $535 fine for his second offense when he was arrested a third
time.
"Apparently the money didn't get to him. Maybe some jail
time and walking with the sign all day will," she said.
The fine for the third offense is $1,000, and she said, "Depending
on attitude I will probably allow $100 a day toward the fine (for
carrying the sign)."
She said the latest sign-toter's attitude is improving. As
a result she let him out of jail and sign-carrying for one day
earlier this week so he could participate in senior activities
at Breckenridge High School.
Again depending on attitude, the judge has also been known
to take the walkers a soft drink or snack during long afternoons.
Duggan said she heard of the plan from a judge up north and
decided to try it. She said she gets the permission from a minor's
parents before sentencing him or her to walk.
Many of the parents she contacts just pay the fine, she said,
wondering aloud if those minors are really being punished in such
instances.
"Not only is this humiliating, but some younger teen-agers
might see him and think of the punishment and maybe not drink.
If you deter one or two you have accomplished a lot," Duggan
said.
She has a couple of hand-lettered signs the offender may choose
from - one mounted on a stick, or a larger one carried on the
back.
"It's the same message," she said, "and I hope
they get it."
(Senior Staff Writer Roy A. Jones II contributed to this story.)
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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