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PUNISHMENT
18-year-old Sherelle Purnell received a unique sentence
after surveillance video-tape showed her speeding away from a Maryland gas
station without paying for $4.52 worth of gasoline. The manager of the gas
station persuaded prosecutors to ask the judge to sentence the woman to wear a
sign reading "I was caught stealing gas" in front of the station for
three hours on a Friday afternoon.
As Purnell walked along the shop's grassy storefront, passing
drivers honked and made catcalls at her. While some passersby complained about
the unconventional punishment, the manager of the store added, "There were
parents who came by with their children, wanting to teach them a lesson."
When asked about her unusual sentence for stealing, Purnell declined comment.
—Associated Press, Woman Who Stole Fuel Ordered to Wear
Sign, July 30, 2004. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.
Making the punishment fit the crime may be unusual, but it
is not a new idea.
Psalm 62:12 (NASB) "And lovingkindness is Thine, O
Lord, For Thou dost recompense a man according to his work."
PUNISHMENT
The Higginbotham family made national headlines when they
were rescued after being snowbound in the mountains of southern Oregon for two
weeks. Despite the heroic work of rescue teams, the family promptly vanished
again after authorities in Arizona issued a warrant for the couple's arrest.
Eleven months before their rescue, the couple had been arrested in Arizona.
Though they agreed to cooperate with authorities in a larger investigation, the
couple disappeared before the sheriff had an opportunity to talk with them.
Navajo County Sheriff Gary Butler says deputies did not know
the couple's whereabouts until they showed up on television after the mid-March
2006 rescue. Officials arranged with Oregon authorities to have the couple
travel back to Arizona to face charges, but when the couple got their motor
home back, they vanished again.
Family members say they thought the Higginbothams were
traveling back to Arizona, but the couple did not arrive as scheduled.
—http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1775357&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312.
Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.
Proverbs 11:21 (CEV) [21] You can be sure of this: All
crooks will be punished, but God's people won't.
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