Public Pillory – Chap 1 – The act and sentencing by DBSKR123
The first trial that will eventually change the face of the legal system. Public humiliation is found to be much cheaper and more effective at reforming the guilty than incarceration.
This is the first chapter of a story in a universe where public humiliation eventually replaces incarceration. , Chapter 1 The act and sentencing.
The Humility bill of 2069 changed it all. It was a sweeping bill that changed the face of justice. Trials lasted days not months or years. Most sentences lasted hours or days not years. When a sentence was completed, the accused had a clean record. No more ruined lives due to past indiscretions before the accused learned their lessons. Almost overnight, all prisons were repurposed into rehabilitation and party centers. Serious crimes of murder dropped by 99.8 percent in a matter of months. Rape and other crimes of passion were cut by 98 percent. White collar crimes dropped by 93 percent.
No one thought it would pass, but both conservatives and liberals found their priorities crossing for widely different reasons. Each hated the other groups reasons, but in a wild twist of fate, the final vote was almost unanimous.
It all started with the 2054 Palmer case. The judge was frustrated that crime continued to rise no matter how many people he seemed to put in jail. The jails were overcrowded, and nothing seemed to make it better. To make matters worse, when criminals were let go, they often committed the same crimes. Rich people got away with just paying a fine that they could usually easily pay, while poor people ended up locked away were they contributed nothing to society and society was obligated to pay for them to be locked up. It was a vicious circle with no end in sight.
When Sam Palmer, age 22, was accused of raping his date, Judge Parker had had enough. The evidence was irrefutable. By 2054 cameras were everywhere. They allowed people to make easy video calls, record incredible events that would not be believed if not recorded, and proved guilt when things went wrong. Sam had dated Gena, age 20, a couple of times and wanted to take it to the next level. Gena made it quite clear that he was moving too fast. No meant No. Sam would not hear it and forced Gena to first give him a reluctant blow job, then he decided that fucking her face was not enough and forcefully ripped her panties off and rammed his cock into her pussy. At this point she was screaming at him and calling for help. That triggered the multiple cameras in the car to send the previous 5 minutes of recordings and a live feed to the victim protection center. The recording showed how Sam got mad at her escalating resistance and he told her that he would have to punish her. At that point he pulled out of her pussy and without warning rammed his engorged cock onto her ass. When he was done, he slapped her a few times and said that he hoped she learned her lesson for being a fucking prick tease.
Sam drove her to her house and told her to get out and that she should keep her fucking mouth shut about what happened if she knew what was good for her. He had no idea that he had already incriminated himself on the car occupant protection cameras. He was shocked when the police showed up at his home an hour after he got home. The Police cameras recorded him saying that he would kill that fucking bitch for reporting him.
Sam had no idea that Gina had never called anyone. It was his own car that had done it. Medics were automatically sent to Gina’s house to make sure she was OK and to treat any injuries she may have endured due to the brutal rape.
When Judge Parker saw the videos, there was no doubt that he was guilty. In times past, Sam would have had to wait in a jail cell for several months before his trial would come up, but his was a special case because it was an automatic video call that initiated the trial, it got bumped to the front of the docket.
Judge Parker would normally sentence Sam to 10 years in prison for aggravated assault and rape, but he had recently been gone on a tour at the local museum to see a traveling display called: “Justice from the Past”. One item in the display was a pillory that had been used to humiliate miscreants. The display sparked some interest in him and just for shits and giggles he and looked up the use of Pillories in the local law books. Much to his surprise the use of a Pillory was still on the books as being legal.
The disgust Judge Parker felt that maybe Sam could be a candidate for an idea that was forming in his mind. The undisputable video evidence, and the forgotten Pillory law had sparked a chain of thoughts that had probably never been considered in modern times. Sending Sam to prison would cost the state at least $125,000 a year for prison costs. That would be $1,250,000, or more, in costs alone over the 10 years of his sentence! Sam would basically have free room and board that entire time and would contribute nothing back to society. That $0 contribution was not even part of the calculation for the cost. The total bill to society could be well over 2 million dollars! When he was released, he probably would not have learned his lesson and would be a repeat offender, costing society even more than the dollar amount. Judge Parker called for a recess to check some other laws before his sentencing. He had to make sure his ruling would not backfire on him. He had to have the wording down exactly.
The next day Sam stood before the judge waiting for his sentencing. Judge parker knew that what he was going to say would go down in history but had to make the call anyway. He gave Sam a choice of 10 years in prison, or one weekend in a pillory that was to be erected on the lawn in front of the town square in front of the courthouse. The judge continued to say that if he chose the pillory, the crime would be wiped from his records.
Sam thought he was hearing things. Did he say 10 years of his life or a weekend in a stupid pillory. It was a no brainer; he chose the pillory. Judge Parker smiled and asked if he was sure. He would be spending 48 hours in a pillory on the public lawn where anyone could see him. Sam said he was sure, much to Judge parkers delight. Judge Parker said that to make it legal Sam would have to sign his name away during those 48 hours, but he would receive it back when his time was done. Sam though it was a strange requirement but still thought 48 hours with no name was worth 10 years of his life with his name. Hell, just the clean record was worth losing a stupid weekend. If he chose the 10 years he would also be choosing to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. A little embarrassment of being seen in a pillory was well worth the benefits!
Sam was to be held in a cell until the pillory could be erected. Sam signed the agreement and happily went back to his cell to wait for his time in the pillory.
During the three days that it took city planners figure out how to carry out Parkers ruling, Parker combed every law book he could find to make sure everything was per the books. He also made some discrete calls to inform key individuals of what was happening.