Ohio Judge is well known for giving out unusual yet creative punishments. Which one is your favorite?
“Law is order, and good law is good order.” – Aristotle
We all have laws and the law exists to protect the rights of people and animals as well. Though sadly, not all people know that animals have rights too. This is why there can be many cases of animal abuse.
Unfortunately, most animal abusers don’t even think they have done something wrong and ultimately get away from what they did. Though, in Painesville, Ohio, one judge made sure that he made a difference.
Municipal Court Judge Michael Cicconeti didn’t want animal abusers to get away from their crime. He was different; in fact, he made sure that the people accountable for their crimes would pay – in the most unusual ways.
It’s more than just punishment, this judge is making sure that the offenders would “learn their lessons” and he made sure that these lessons will stay with them.
Judge Michael Cicconetti made sure that he lets the offenders choose if they would do their time in jail or would agree with his terms of their punishments.
To be clear, Judge Michael never gave out dangerous or even illegal punishments. Rather, just like a parent, he is offering his “children” a lesson that he wants them to learn.
Just like this one for example. One woman left 35 poor kittens in the woods. Judge Michael was angry with this crime and said:
“How would you like to be dumped off at a metro park late at night, spend the night listening to the coyotes, listening to the raccoons around you in the dark night, and sit out there in the cold not knowing where you’re going to get your next meal, not knowing when you are going to be rescued?”
He made her stay in the woods overnight though police were nearby.
In another animal abuse crime, another woman was found guilty for allowing her dog to live in total filth.
She doesn’t seem to know how hard life is when you’re in this situation so what would a fair judge do?
Judge Cicconeti made sure that she understood what it feels like.
“I want you to go down to the county dump, to the landfill, and I want them to find the stinkiest, smelliest, God-awful odor place they can find in that dump and I want you to sit there for eight hours tomorrow, to think about what you did to that dog while you smell the odor. If you puke, you puke.”
The now retired judge didn’t end there. In fact, he is well known for his unusual punishments for offenders and some of these are:
A nanny who was found guilty of hitting a boy with a belt was asked to read multiple articles about child abuse and even the punishments for the crime. In the courtroom, she was then asked to discuss everything she learned to the judge himself, the mother of the child and the jury.
A man who was caught red-handed with a loaded gun was asked to spend time in a morgue to see corpses, so he would understand the danger of the weapon.
There was also an 18-year-old young man who stole pornography materials from an adult book was asked to sit outside the store. There he was blindfold while holding a sign that reads “See no evil.”
There was also a woman who intentionally skipped out on a cab fare was found guilty and was sentenced to walk the whole 30 miles in 48- hours. The reason for the 30-mile walk was that it was the distance the cab driver drove for her.
Judge Michael Cicconeti’s unusual punishments may have garnered a lot of comments but the people around him know that he was a very good judge and that he was doing what he could to be fair and to discipline the people around him.