Thursday, September 14, 2006

Did the punishment fit the crime?

I actually saw this AP story in the Chicago Sun-Times this morning, not the Houston Chronicle, although that is the on-line source from which I reprint this:
NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — Nicole Delameter has learned to be more judicious when selecting a parking spot.

When Circuit Judge Stanley Mills arrived for work Monday, Delameter's 1990 Oldsmobile was parked in his reserved space at the courthouse. So he parked his 2005 Cadillac behind her car and forced her to sit in his courtroom until he was ready to leave.

Delameter, 26, swears she thought the "reserved" sign meant it was reserved for those going to court. She had to sit in the judge's courtroom for more than three hours — and she had come only to give her sister a ride to a boyfriend's court hearing.

"I'm very, very sorry," she told the St. Petersburg Times. "I'll never do it again in a million, million years."

Mills said it was the second time in as many weeks that he found someone parked in his space.

"There's two perks to the job," the judge said. "I have my own bathroom, and I have my own parking spot, and you're not going to get to use either."
Given his response to a goof parking in his space, what horrible fate would await the doofus who stumbled into the learned judge's powder room?

6 comments:

Dr. A said...

Delameter, 26, swears she thought the "reserved" sign meant it was reserved for those going to court.

Call me cynical, but I really don't believe this story. "Reserved" to me means don't park here.

It's always interesting seeing how judges make their point - and I thought this way was kind of amusing, myself.

Thanks for stopping by my blog, thought I would do the same. Hope you don't mind a doc looking around. I've enjoyed what I've read and I'm adding you to my links list, if that's ok.

BeeJiggity said...

Good trick, yerHonner.

Brittany,
The punishment fit the crime. It's not like she had to pay a parking ticket.

Doc,
You are exactly right. She knew better.
----------------
Someone using his bathroom would be subject to "Swirlies" delivered by "Bull" the baliff from "Night Court."

cmhl said...

he was flexing the judicial branch a little bit, huh?

hahahahah... I agree, she knew better, but he overreacted somewhat..

Patry Francis said...

Sound like the judge's pet peeve.

Jean-Luc Picard said...

That was a great story!

Anonymous said...

Parking disputes cause more mayhem among neighbours than noise and anti-social behaviour, but it sounds like he did get on his high horse a bit and the woman made a genuine mistake. I hope he didn't take it on on the defendant.