Legislator Wants Vandals To Be Spanked

A state legislator wants to enact a law specifying “public spanking on the bare buttocks” as the punishment for crimes such as spray painting graffiti on public property.

Sen. Jim Burnett, R-Luther, has requested legislation be drafted for the 1997 Legislature that would “reintroduce corporal punishment and the accompanying public shaming as a public policy device to respond to acts of vandalism.”

The bill would amend the state’s criminal mischief law and would apply to males and females, adults and teenagers. Burnett said it is time to return to proven approaches to controlling crime.

According to a draft of the legislation, the spanking could be ordered by either a judge or jury after a conviction for certain types of vandalism. The number of strokes to be inflicted also would be determined by judge or jury.

At least three public announcements would be printed in the local newspaper preceding the spanking.

Doug Sternberg, legal researcher for the Montana Legislative Council who prepared the draft, said he has written to Burnett, citing constitutional and legal problems that “I think he needs to take a look at.”