"Only an idiot would drive on the sidewalk to avoid the school bus"

A woman who was caught on video driving along a sidewalk to avoid a stopped school bus has been ordered to wear an 'idiot' sign at the intersection where it happened.
Shena Hardin, 32, of Cleveland pleaded guilty to not stopping for a school bus and reckless operation. A Cleveland Municipal Court judge ordered her driver's license suspended for 30 days and for her to pay $250 in court costs, according to WJW Fox 8.

As part of the sentence, Hardin must also must wear a sign that reads, "Only an idiot would drive on the sidewalk to avoid the school bus" for an hour a day for two days next week at the intersection where the incident occurred, according to Fox 8.

Hardin was arrested on Sept. 11 after a veteran school bus driver Uriah Herron noticed Hardin pull her driving stunt several times and recorded one incident on his cell phone camera.

"We had a very conscientious driver for 30 years. He really cares about his children and he took the extra step that this doesn't happen again," said Cleveland Metropolitan School District bus manager Eric Taylor told newsnet5.com.

The judge's unique sentence predictably has drawn hundreds of comments on social media. Many agree with the sentence, saying more judges should strive for non-traditional penalties. Others however, argue that the punishment is too degrading and humiliating for a motor vehicle violation.

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When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser. Socrates

How quaint and old-timey of them.

sounds a bit harsh and the judge over stepped is boundary of his authority

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"I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life... to put to rout all that was not life; and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." from Dead Poets Society

We'll I'll be damned - A cop when ya need one.

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The best thing you can do for your fellow,
next to rousing his conscience, is - not to give him things
to think about, but to wake things up that are in him...
to make him think things for himself - George MacDonald

I am all for it. I bet she never even thinks about doing that again. It's not like its cruel punishment or anything.

Why not just put one of these in every town square? Then have a blackboard next to it and you can put up the different things each person has done. It's perfect! A bit of nostalgia of bringing back the good medieval times. I say you take it a couple steps further and introduce maybe quartering in your executions.

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Good point. Do the US laws really allow for humiliation to be used as punishment? Most civilised countries have fines, jail and losing certain rights, like your right to practice medicine and teach and so forth. One dude here who was caught driving without a licence for the 9th time or something like that and already had a life time ban on driving so the court said he wasn't allowed to own a car. But having to wear a sign is damn right humiliation. Have the US society not evolved further than that humiliating the purpetrator even further than just having to live with the shame of a sentence against them, has to be publically humiliated as well? You can say it may have a preventive effect, given that all judges do the same all around the country, not just the single one. And how much will society be willing to accept in the name of preventive effects?

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I think perhaps sometimes extreme measures are called for. Some people are thickheaded and need that extra shove. Who in their right mind would put children in danger by doing something so stupid? If it was just a fine and perhaps a slight suspension of her license she'd just be right back doing it again. This way she can't hide her stupidity and people can say WTF is wrong with you, you self entitled bitch? What makes you more important than our children? I hope someone throws a rotten tomato at her on their way by.

lol, of course you are right, judges are not there to educate not as you read it anyway. I meant that someone who represents country with their laws, has to have the same dignity that unwritten law requires, with judgment and punishment people should learn something, that is why is there judgement is there, to re-educate people not to make the same mistake. Of course not everyone is fast learner

The Idiot sign is just way out of their authority. It is not democratic, it is not ethical and just rude. I could actually swallow rude but as you said letting slide any exceed of authority is way straight back to black middle ages.

I think she should be put in stocks, and people can throw rotten fruit at her. That's what we used to do back in England, when I was young, and somebody had wronged.

[/sarcasm]

Creative sentencing has been around for years. With overcrowding not only in prisons/jails and packed court dockets, this seems like a fair choice. Some people just don't learn by following the TNT way of doing things. It's legal and usually does some good with the offender. Bet she doesn't do it again. This woman will learn faster by being shamed and/or humiliated by her peers than she would have been by opening her check book and going back to doing whatever she pleased. Let the punishment fit the crime?

Could you elaborate on the connection you see between the KKK and non-traditional forms of sentencing? I don't see the connection yet.

Apart that my post was deep sarcasm and mocking this thread, asociation that I got for KKK is Chef's post and the way she expressed herself:...just don't learn, bet she doesn't do it again,she will learn faster if she will be humiliated...
I haven't studied non traditional US laws, but as far as I am familiar it is gray aera giving opportunity to shit like this slide away. Mentioning KKK didn't have racism in mind but their agression, how were they threating, frightening whites if..not obeying their ways.
Personaly, non traditional doesn't feel very democratic to me.

"An hour a day, for two days."

My, how humiliating. How devastating. How will this dumb-assed bitch ever stand the shame?

If I were the judge, I would have given her much more than just two measly hours. For everyone complaining about how humiliating that is, imagine the pain that this stupid fuck would have inflicted if she had run over a small child in her idiotic rush to save a few seconds? Seriously - school buses stop for less than a minute. Just long enough to pick up kids, or drop them off. She can't wait for one fucking minute so our future doctors, lawyers, and Presidents can get to school safely? It's not like she only did this one time. She's a repeat dumbass. If waiting for the kids to embark on their bus puts too much of a burden on her busy schedule, can't she take some alternative action to avoid the bus altogether? Something like.... ummmm...... I dunno..... Maybe leaving her house a fucking minute earlier?

Fucking hell. This woman deserves much worse than the punishment she got.

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And you wonder why your country doesn't move forward. Seems nothing has changed and you still keep the mentality of the first pilgrims who came to the US so they could persecute and oppress a bit more than they could back in England. Jolly good show!

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