Ouch!

We do not speak unless we are spoken too.

Kiss my A$$

We are not amused.

Why on earth would someone think that writing that on a paper to the judge would be acceptable? There should be a stupidity fine.

Well she's obviously been brought up to be respectful of authority. Too bad society is losing her for the next five years.

Oh, almost forgot: [/sarcasm]

While she certainly should have kept quiet, there are quite a few judges out there that have huge, fragile egos.

They gave her one... that 90 extra days tacked on top of her 5 year sentence

No, that's just for contempt. I want a fine that actually says "STUPIDITY FINE". Let's not play nice with this type of idiocy!

Makes you wonder about the line of 'free speech'. If I stand outside and hold a sign that say the Judge can 'kiss my..' can he hold me in contempt of his court?

I wonder because I've once told a lawyer (my ex-wifes) that he and the judge will sit in the 7th bolgia someday for their gross interpretation of justice..

This is sort of a blurred line isn't it?

Hrm.

Agreed that one should be able to express themselves. Let's say someone was wrongly accused and sentenced and was grieving. Should they not be able to express their feelings about the judge being an asshat? Why is the judge exempt?

On the other hand, it is a high office and should be respected.

I think if it were in court and a disruption, then perhaps the fine would be just.

It is one to think "Kiss my ..." to a judge, it is another to actually say it. I think the judge was being lenient by suspending a 5-year sentence. If you cannot appreciate that leniency then you don't deserve it. The judge wasn't being a jerk, he was being lenient. He could have just had her serve the original sentence and been done with it. She expressed her feelings, and so did the judge.

Which bolgia will those with a gross interpretation of what "free speech" really means sit in? Oh, maybe 9.

Free speech comes with consequences. The judge didn't say she couldn't say it, just that it will result in contempt charges.

Free speech doesn't mean you get to be an ill-mannered idiot without accepting the cost of that behavior. It means that the federal government won't outlaw the behavior.

Actually... come to think of it, some one would really have to be stupid to act like that towards a judge.

But that's the crux of the situation. If the government punished you for speaking your opinions that it didn't like.. they'd send you to jail.

She expressed her opinion and now, she's gone to jail for it.

Now there are times when it's not acceptable. Had court been in session, had she been disruptive, etc. That would have been contempt of court and disruptive and disrespectful. Her writing the note on a court document.. that's definitely disrespectful but it's her Right to hate a judge or to think he's a jerk or even to express that opinion.

I'm not saying she's right to have done it, but I do question the circumstances. The article doesn't make it clear if she was still in court when it was done. It only says the Judge wasn't there.

Do people need to fear speaking their ill-mannered opinions of our nations justice's or they might go to jail for it? When people critisized Clarence Thomas could he have them on contempt charges?

I simply wonder what made this an acceptable use of power.

She signed a court document that way. Unless that's her name, it's not appropriate behavior.