Woman Jailed for Wearing Vulgar T-Shirt

By: William Liao
BHSN Fused

So the title pretty much says what the whole situation entails, which is to say that, for one reason or another, a woman was jailed for wearing a t-shirt that was deemed, well, vulgar.

Before I begin any further commentary, here's what happened:
20-year-old Jennifer LaPenta was going to court to settle some traffic tickets. Upon settling the issue with the judge, the judge noticed her shirt which read: "I have the pussy so I make the rules."

The judge found her shirt to be inappropriate. After becoming aware of this, LaPenta offered to change shirts, however the judge said it was too late, and ordered her to jail.

---- End Case

Let's talk about the grounds that dictated the ruling. The judge said her attire was inappropriate, which to some extent, justifies an alteration to her appearance.

However, the judge said it was too late! (key issue, there)

This is a classic case in which judge assumes more power than he/she actually has. The judge's job is to dictate the outcome of an issue in accordance to the law, true. However, in conjunction with this, it also the judge's responsibility to dictate the means of handling the outcome, and to make sure that they correlate within the line ethics.

The ethics of the situation seem a little distorted, don't you think? The woman comes into court, for traffic tickets. She, therefore, was not aware prior to entering the room that her shirt would be deemed in appropriate (while one might have assumed, that is irrelevant). And upon walking into this room, the judge reveals to her this knowledge, and before she is ever given a chance to alter her behavior, she is firmly told that it is "too late."

The key issue within the whole ethics of this situation is in regard to the woman's circumstances. She was not aware that her shirt would be inappropriate, and the moment she found out, without even having a chance to alter her behavior, she's given a jail sentence!?

So what's to make of this?
This case is the consequence of a failure in ethics. It's the consequence when one over-assumes one's power.

The judge's actions do not reflect his job description. His lack of correspondence with the necessary ethics within the matter leads one to believe that he perhaps had a moral inclination, or some sort of hidden agenda behind this ruling.

It's an ethical failure. Period.

Original link:
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/commentary.aspx?id=22923