put 'em in the stocks

From BBC World:

The top US court has rejected an appeal by a sentenced man, who argued about the legality of having to publicly wear a sign stating "I stole mail".

The Supreme Court turned down Shawn Gementera's appeal without any comment.

Gementera had argued that the measure would humiliate him, violating the Sentencing Reform Act and the constitutional ban on cruel punishment.

He pleaded guilty to mail theft after being held in 2001 for stealing letters from mailboxes in San Francisco.


In 2003, Gementera was sentenced by a district judge to two months in jail, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

The release conditions stated that Gementera must spend four days at a post office observing staff dealing with inquiries about lost or stolen mail, write letters of apology to the victims of his crime and give three lectures about his crime at schools.

The judge also ordered him to wear a signboard reading "I stole mail - this is my punishment" for a full eight-hour working day.

Gementera appealed about the latter requirement, but a US appeals court panel ruled against him earlier this year.

The court said in August that the record in Gementera's case showed the judge imposed the condition for the purpose of rehabilitation.

"Punishments aimed at imposing shame and humiliation are inconsistent with a constitutional requirement that punishments, even for heinous crimes, be consistent with human dignity," Gementera's lawyers were quoted by Reuters news agency when appealing to the Supreme Court.

back in sf

I arrived in SF last Tuesday and my initial reaction could be summed up by a phrase that I heard on at least two different occassions from Bruno, the notorious owner of the Persian Aub Zam Zam bar in the Haight. "San Francisco is a dirty little town."
After being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people walking on the streets of nyc perhaps riding the bus down Market street and being disgusted by the percentage of viewable folks who were either indigent, drunk, wasted, mentally incapacitated or all of the above (I felt like I was in a Dorothea Lange photograph circa depression years or maybe Diane Arbus)was not a fair comparison.
ah well san francisco still rocks and I have no real complaints. Now I just have to find a job. oy vey.
A friend suggested doing extra work on movie and tv shows. They pay $70 for an eight hour day. Yeah, that'll cover my bills. They're filming Monk in the city this week and that's a show that I think it would be ok to be an extra on.
My friend says it's "not the kind of work you do for the money". I guess sitting around bored for hours watching people set up equipment is something you have to really love.