Cleveland woman holding 'idiot' sign only the latest oddball sentences from Northeast Ohio judges (gallery)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Shena Hardin wasn't the first person made to hold up an embarrassing sign, walk around with livestock or gallivant in crazy costumes in public.

Her "idiot" sentence for a traffic offense was unconventional, but her case probably won't be the last, either, in which a defendant agrees to an odd form of punishment to avoid jail time or additional fines.

In fact, such punishment is becoming more popular across the country, says a professor of criminal law at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

"This is a form of public shaming," said Jonathan Witmer-Rich. "Judges are increasingly using that as an additional way to send a message."

Hardin, 32, was ordered last week to stand on a corner during rush hour on two days holding a sign that labeled her as an "idiot." Cleveland Municipal Judge Pinkey Carr ordered her to create the sign that read "Only an idiot would drive on the sidewalk to avoid a school bus" after Hardin pleaded guilty to failing to stop for a school bus.

Some municipal courts in Cuyahoga County have alternative programs to help first-time and low-level offenders have charges reduced or later dropped through programming and community service.

But Carr, who was elected to the bench nearly a year ago, took a page out of Painesville Municipal Judge Michael Cicconetti's playbook. He has made a career of handing out unconventional sentences.

"Even as a prosecutor I was inspired by some of the sentences he gave," Carr said of Cicconetti. "In this situation, because she [Hardin] was so brazen, I wanted to make sure it was more than a slap on the wrist."

Cicconetti, who has been a judge for nearly 20 years, has created punishments in which he made a couple dress as biblical characters and walk with a donkey after they stole a Jesus figure from a Nativity scene.

The judge said he began handing out odd punishments after he started to see some offenders who committed crimes return to his court.

Cicconetti said one of the first unconventional sentences he dished out also involved someone who passed a school bus. He ordered the person to ride on the bus with a group of elementary school kids.

"It is too easy to put people in jail," Cicconetti said. "They go to jail and . . . it does not deter the crime."

So the judge said that when he heard about Hardin's case, he was pleased. He said he believes more judges should rule in similar ways.

"I thought it was a brilliant idea," he said. "There is nothing wrong with a little humiliation and embarrassment."

Some of Cicconetti's sentences are proof of that.

In 2002, he ordered a Painesville man to stand with a live pig next to a sign that read "This is not a police officer," after the man pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct. The man had referred to an officer as a pig during their confrontation.

In 2007, he ordered three men who solicited sex to take turns wearing a chicken suit and holding a sign that read "World Famous Chicken Ranch," referring to a brothel in Nevada.

The judge has also ordered misdemeanor offenders to visit morgues and run in marathons to determine the number of days they would spend on house arrest, and he ordered a man who destroyed property to use a paintball gun on his own vehicle.

Witmer-Rich and other legal experts say unconventional punishments can be effective not only because the sentence puts shame on the offender, but also because it saves the public money from housing someone in jail or the offender from losing employment, which is harder for someone to gain after incarceration.

The punishments also allow the community to get involved and make the offender think intensely about the norms society expects when it comes to obeying laws, Witmer-Rich said.

Judges Carr and Cicconetti both said the sentences they've issued were meant to get the point across and to deter others from committing similar crimes.

Carr said Hardin's attitude and demeanor largely played a role in her sentencing. She said she believes it will remind people to wait for school buses when they are stopped.

"Every case is different," Carr said. "I would definitely not rule it out as a form of punishment again, depending on the offense."

Other local judges have also punished offenders in ways other than jail.

For instance, Cleveland Municipal Judge Anita Laster Mays, who oversees the municipal Drug Court, has ordered some people to write their own obituaries and read them in court as a way to help them get off drugs.

Former Euclid Judge Robert Niccum was famous for stiff sentences. Former Willoughby Judge Elaine Crane was also tough on the bench.

However, Witmer-Rich said judges have to be careful in the severity of the sentences they decide to issue.

"Judges have a lot of discretion at sentencing but it also means they cannot abuse their discretion," he said. "I think it is important the judges don't go too far, but I do think it can be an effective and creative form of punishment."