More shame, shame on you
Both the theory and the reality of shaming punishments have made news lately. On the theory side, as noted at CrimProf Blog and Corrections Sentencing, the Washington Post earlier this week had this nice article on the topic. The article is titled “Abandoned O.J. Project Shows Shame Still Packs a Punishing Punch,” and it goes on to note that “in the past decade or two, a number of scholars have become interested in the uses of shame, especially in the criminal justice system.” The prior posts I have linked below suggest I am one of those “number of scholars.”
On the reality side, check out this article (and video) with an account of a Georgia shaming punishment. Here are the basic details from a story that reveals that this was a victim-initiated shaming sanction:
Cherokee County convenience store is taking crime-fighting to the street. The Sixes Road Chevron wants everybody to get the message: Don’t steal from us. Walking a small patch of grass at the corner of Highway 5 and Sixes Road, 22-year-old Brandon Huff carries his scarlet letter in the form of a neon pink 2×3 sign. The sign reads, “I stole gas and this is my punishment.”…
Huff did not want to talk about his public display of punishment. And his sign does not say this — but this is not the first time Huff has done this. “Since he had two cases, he was looking at a license suspension on the second offense, therefore we made it a condition that if he did this, we would dismiss the second count which allowed him to save his license,” says Cherokee County Solicitor General, David Cannon.
Cannon used out of the ordinary punishments — like the sign holding — to send a message to the community. “Jail time in a case like this is no feasible, and it would cost more for the county to do that. We think this will get the message across to him and to other people,” says Cannon.
Morning traffic sped by as motorists blew their horns in displeasure with Huff’s crime — but approval of his 21st century scarlet letter. “He deserves it, he’s a thief,” says Jason Ingle…. The store asked for this to be part of Huff’s punishment and the judge agreed. They hope to deter others from driving off without paying.
Some recent posts on shaming sentences: