GIRARD, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man chose to wear a sign proclaiming he’s a thief rather than go to jail after trying to steal a 52-inch television.
Greg Davenport, of Liberty Township, pleaded no contest this month to a theft charge for stealing from a Wal-Mart in the township in December.
A judge in Girard gave Davenport, 44, the sentencing option of 30 days in jail or wearing a sign saying, “I am a thief. I stole from WalMart.”
Davenport has to wear the sign in front of the store eight hours a day for 10 days of his choosing. MORE
Sounds like the judge is intentionally circumventing the laws of his state. I don’t think the Legislature empowered him to come up with creative punishments. In most states, the law prescribes the ranges of acceptable punishments. Such punishments as this are by their very nature “unusual” and thus, unconstitutional.
Here’s your sign — no different than being called a Capricorn.
There is no such thing as ‘shame’ anymore.
Goodbye to 2000 years of the Judeo-Christian tradition.
Davenport was the name of a series of sofas made by the Massachusetts furniture manufacturer A. H. Davenport and Company, now defunct. Due to the popularity of the furniture at the time, the name davenport became a genericized trademark, like aspirin.
We had a Davenport when I was a kid. Now we have a Chinese Sofa.
you had a davenport & we had a chesterfield
now we have la-z-boy recliners … just sayin
Keep laughing, because tragically, Oholio is going to get even less punishment for crimes far worse than that.
Wasn’t he an “attempted” thief? He wasn’t a very good thief – he got caught.
Does Barry have a Bark-A-Lounger?
“Davenport said the sign is better than being in jail, and he just wants to finish his punishment. He said he isn’t embarrassed by the punishment.
“I stole, I got punished. That’s it,” he said.”
Yeah, that works so much better than jail. Ugh.