Judges are often faced with a major decision: go by the book and give a mandatory sentence or issue an alternate penalty like a fine. The problem is that sometimes offenders are not deterred from doing it again because the fines are not that high. The important matter here is that the offenders get the message that what they did is not supposed to happen.
Judge Michael Cicconetti has gotten a reputation for dishing out the most unorthodox penalties known as part of his sentencing. For him, it’s all about preventing these people from going to jail where they can get more “street-smart” and turn themselves into bigger criminals looking for a better payoff. But how do you do this and still get your point across as a judge?
In the judge’s mind, it is crucial to take each case as a separate one because they really are. This might seem like an unusual way of sentencing, but it has given him impressive results. Long jail sentences and hefty fines are not something he usually gives out. One example of this is Alyssa Morrow. She ended up in his courtroom because of an animal abuse case against her.
She was accused of leaving her dog inside her house which was full of filth for an entire week. She had not left the dog any food or any access to food. So, when the dog got hungry or thirsty, he would look around the house and consume whatever he could find. When the police were alerted, they responded and found the house engulfed in an awful stench.
The police informed the judge what had happened, and he decided that she needed to learn a lesson. When she was asked for her plea, she pleaded guilty to her crime. What happened next was something no one in the courtroom expected. The judge considered that Moose (her pitbull) at 7 years old, was experiencing health related issues due to the state that Alyssa had left him.
The judge said the conditions in the home were like those of a hoarder’s house. He also mentioned that she was not fit to have Moose, therefore he would be put up for adoption. The judge reminded her that the normal amount of jail time for this type of behavior is 90 days.
Considering this, she was given two options: she would either spend 90 days sitting inside of a jail cell or spend 8 hours at the city dump picking up trash. What do you think she picked? The judge said that if she chose the dump, she would be smelling the awful odor. She would then need to think about the type of conditions she had left her dog in. Click on the video for the conclusion!