In Carlsbad, NM, while appearing on a traffic violation, taking off his hat as the judge entered, a teen dropped marijuana in the courtroom. The judge held him in contempt and ordered him to serve two days in jail. In my opinion, the judge must have taken pity on the young man, because two days in jail seems to be a pretty light sentence for displaying a controlled substance in the court. It reminds me of an incident I witnessed in a Dallas court, where a man who was ordered to go to jail emptied his pockets for the bailiff and pulled out 5 rocks of crack cocaine. I am almost sure that man got considerably more than two days in jail for his transgression. If only absolute ignorance was a defense to criminal activity?
Posted by Tiger at April 24, 2003 07:31 AM