In an interesting case this week, a judge gave a woman convicted of embezzling her employers money a choice between jail time and giving up her season tickets to the Packers for a year to the Make a Wish Foundation.
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/news/archive/local_20783250.shtml

As a Packers fan, I know that would be a tough choice. It does seem like a unusual sentence, but the woman in court did say that she used the money for household expenses while she and her husband managed to hang onto the Packers tickets. Given the expense of hanging on to the tickets, and the impossibility of getting them back if they are allowed to lapse, I understand the temptation she was under. What do you think of this?

I think the judge should've just sent her to jail.

It does seem to be a bit of judicial activism. I have no doubt that losing the season tickets for a season would hurt, and be poetic justice in that they kept the tickets while stealing money for household expenses, but the law doesn't call for siezure of athletic tickets as a penalty.

I really don't think judges should make strange rulings like this. I might understand if he ordered her to auction the tickets and make restitution for her theft.

That's really twisted. I wonder what she'll choose.

Originally posted by box19
That's really twisted. I wonder what she'll choose.

She already chose surrendering the tickets.

I think pretending that giving up Packer tickets is equal to jail is a bit silly. And it undermines the seriousness of her crime. If I had been her employer I would not be amused.

It seems to me that the judge just made up a punishment which has no basis in law. It could be held that ordering the surrender of packer tickets is a fine, but in a conventional fine no one says exactly which dollars or property must be surrendered.
Restitution has already been made to the former employer, so the matter is solely one of the punishment. It is nice for the Make a Wish Foundation, because they will be able to take some deserving children to Packer games, but that doesn't change the way they were obtained.
Perhaps the judge was trying his hand at rehabilitation by giving the woman a second chance at making the decision she should have made initially. She chose to steal the money from her employer instead of selling her Packer tickets. That decision led her to a conviction for theft and facing jail time. The judge gave her another chance to make that decision, give up the tickets or go to jail.

Being a Vikings fan, she made the right choice. :D

I think his ruling was brilliant and innovative.

Sending her to jail does not address the problem in any way. She has what was termed in another thread, "victim mentality" which leads to a feeling of entitlement.

She isn't entitled to anything which she hasn't worked for in an honest way.

Jail would be a punishment, but at public expense. It is just another body in jail that is not a danger to the public. I really would like to see the jail system used for dangerous offenders and in cases such as this, alternative punishments used. I think this is a step in the right direction.

She also has to do a lot of public service.

I think we need to lose the punishment mentality and find ways to correct the behavior. Most people wouldn't bash their kids any longer... well jail is like an adult version of bashing your kid. It merely relieves your own frustration but it doesn't solve the kids poor thinking or recidivism.

Originally posted by Imagineer
It seems to me that the judge just made up a punishment which has no basis in law. It could be held that ordering the surrender of packer tickets is a fine, but in a conventional fine no one says exactly which dollars or property must be surrendered.
Restitution has already been made to the former employer, so the matter is solely one of the punishment.

Hi Sir, how are you, I am new here. If I may, a Judge may set conditions of court ordered restitution as a fine/penalty to "non-monetary" ones, such as community service, etc. Unless the demand is outrageous and violates her Due Process rights, he is within the law to impose such instead of a jail sentence/money fine, and/or a condition of probation, etc. I am not an Attorney, but I believe this to be correct.

Take care,

Rick

Welcome Rick. It seems to me that ordering specific property surendered, as opposed to a more general fine, is part of the issue. I was originally rather surprised a the sentence, and as a lifelong Packers fan, I know how hard it is to obtain the tickets. They are often passed down to children, and only rarely can they be purchased. There are thousands of individuals on the waiting list, and only a few tickets are available each year. Since the case involved embezzling her employers money to pay to keep her season tickets, the punishment certainly fit the crime.
The more I learned about this case, and thought about it, the more I appreciated the judge's decision as a practical matter. I still have some doubts about the legality of ordering specific property surrendered, but as you said it was a condition of probation rather than a fine. It probably is legal, and as my views have evolved on this case, I think the judge in the case acted wisely.