In many cases, the criminal justice system affords judges the latitude to hand down a variety of punishments to suit the particulars of a given crime.
Now a judge in North Carolina is using that latitude to force a man convicted of domestic abuse to stand outside the Guilford County District Court with a sign admitting his role in a domestic abuse case.
“This is the face of domestic abuse,” reads the sign. Judge Mark Cummings ordered Joshua Hill to stand and hold the sign outside the courthouse after Hill violated terms of his parole stemming from a 2014 conviction for assault on a female and domestic criminal trespassing.
“It’s embarrassing really. I don’t know how to explain it, it’s crazy,” Hill told WNCN News when they approached him outside the courthouse Tuesday.
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At the time, Hill was sentenced to 12 months’ probation and was forbidden to have any further contact with his victim. However last week Hill pleaded guilty to violating the terms of his probation, and Cummings sentenced Hill to stand outside the courthouse, sign in hand, for four hours a day for the next week.
“Domestic violence has to be taken seriously, it has to be dealt with in a serious way,” Cummings said during sentencing.
“If these individuals standing out here will prevent another individual from committing the crime, then I think we have been well-served.”
And while Hill maintains his innocence in the original domestic assault case, he says this outside-the-box punishment has certainly taught him a lesson.
“I won’t be in any more confrontations. Just… walk away.”