cruel & unusual punishment

[/ dave /]

Doug Henwood wrote:

> School Uses Backstreet Boys to 'Torture' Students
> 
> TORONTO (Reuters) - Backstreet Boys' music and other pop songs are being
> used by University of Toronto campus police to ''torture'' students into
> ending a sit-in in the president's office.

This practice is trending upward...

--

/  dave  /


        WILLIMANTIC, Conn. (AP) -- Students committing minor infractions  
at Eastern Connecticut State University now face punishment by 
Puccini. A group of offenders next month will be force-fed a taste 
of ``Tosca.'' 
        Kirk Peters, associate dean of student affairs, created a policy  
that sends students to an opera or a symphony, rather than slap 
them with citations or fines. 
        Peters said Monday his colleagues initially questioned the  
Alternative Restitution Program when it began in the fall. 
        ``Now they are sold on it,'' Peters said. ``It's something the  
(students) don't want to do, so I feel it is a penalty. But I feel 
they are getting something out of it.'' 
        So far, about 50 students have been ordered to attend classical  
music performances for minor offenses including violating a campus 
ban on alcohol. 
        Next month, Peters plans to bring the next batch of  
troublemakers to see ``Tosca,'' Giacomo Puccini's tragic opera 
about love and betrayal. 

        DETROIT, March 22 (UPI) - Some teens might consider the  
sentence cruel and unusual punishment. 
        A Detroit teen Tuesday was sentenced to listen to the compact  
disc, "Wayne Newton Greatest Hits," three times in a jury room at the 
courthouse in Troy, Mich. Justin Rushford, 18, had been convicted of 
blasting rap music from a truck radio. The truck happened to be next to 
police car. 
        The unusual sentence turned Rushford into a minor celebrity of  
the 15-minute variety, attracting a horde of local media to the 
courthouse to record the two-hour sentence. 
        He appeared on CBS-TV's Early Show Wednesday morning.  
        The sentence was imposed by District Judge Michael Martone,  
who has handed down other noteworthy sentences, including making drunken 
drivers watch autopsies. 
        "This young man shouldn't beimposing his music on others,"  
Martone told the Detroit Free Press. Rushford could have been sentenced 
to 90 days in jail and up to $1,000 in fines for violating the town's 
noise pollution ordinance. 
        Martone said he "meant no disrespect" by choosing the music of  
Las Vegas legend, crooner Wayne Newton - whose best known hit "Danke 
Schoen" was recorded in 1963. Other selections included on the CD are 
"Red Roses for a Blue Lady," "Daddy, Don't You Walk So Fast," "I'll Be 
With You in Apple Blossom Time," "More" and "Hello, Dolly!" 
        Rushford was apologetic after two hours of listening to  
Newton. 
        "It makes me think about other people's styles of music," he  
told the Free Press. "I probably wouldn't appreciate it if some old man 
drove past me blasting this music."