Defendants who get into the courtroom and meet Judge Michael Kinzotti in Ohio never know what to expect.
For 21 years, the charismatic judge has been working a little differently with his ‘Creative Punishment’ scheme, handing out unexpected but certainly fitting punishments to those found guilty.
It can be said that Michael Kinzotti’s decisions are reminiscent of the philosophy of ‘an eye for an eye’.
Judge and father of five – Michael Kinzotti sometimes allows defendants to decide their own sentences. The choice is usually between prison or one of Judge Kinzotti’s creative punishments.
From 1994, Michael Kinzotti was chosen time and time again, mainly because of his popular actions and the special punishments he gives.
Here are some of his most original and unusual punishments:
1. A couple went on trial after being caught having sex in a public park. The punishment? They had to clean up the whole park, including all the used condoms. They also had to buy advertising space in a local paper and apologize to the whole town and anyone who saw them during the act.
2. A woman left 35 kittens alone in the forest in winter. In addition to the woman having to pay a fine, Judge Kinzotti also let her eat the porridge she cooked. He forced her to spend an entire night in the forest in the middle of the frozen November – without food, water, or shelter. But because the temperature dropped a lot that night, the judge relented – he allowed her to light a fire.
3. A man insulted policemen by calling them ‘Pigs’. As a punishment, he had to stand on a street corner together with a pig that weighs 170 kg and hold a sign that says ‘This is not a policeman’.
4. A person who drove drunk was sent to the nearest morgue as punishment. While there, he was forced to look for a long time at 2 bodies that were victims of a drunk driver accident.
5. A woman was convicted of not paying the taxi driver for the ride. the punishment? She had to walk 48 km on foot – the exact distance she traveled by taxi.
6. A person stole a box with money from an association that donates and helps the homeless. the punishment? He had to spend a whole day as a homeless person on the street.
7. Several high school students were caught slashing the tires of a school bus. Because of their actions, an elementary school had to postpone a trip to another date. The guilty boys were forced to organize a
picnic for the elementary school students who suffered because of them.
8. Two boys were found guilty of writing 666 on a statue of Jesus. the punishment? They had to lead a donkey through the city dressed as Miriam and Joseph.
According to Judge Kinzotti, 90 percent of the people who received the creative punishments were not arrested again. Doesn’t sound bad at all, right?
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