Name Michael Cicconetti | Role Judge | |
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Crime Watch Daily: Jail or Pepper-Spray to Face? Judge's Unusual Sentences
Michael Cicconetti (born 1951) is a Municipal Court judge in Painesville, Lake County, Ohio who dispenses a unique brand of what he calls creative justice. The judge often leaves the choice of penalty to the defendant, who is faced with spending time in jail or undergoing one of Cicconetti's unusual punishments. These often involve placing the defendant in a similar position to that of the defendant's victim at the time of the crime.
Contents
- Crime Watch Daily Jail or Pepper Spray to Face Judges Unusual Sentences
- Meet the Judge Who Went Viral For His Creative Punishments
- Unusual sentences
- References

Famously he offered 26-year-old Ohio housewife Michelle Murray the option (in return for a reduced prison sentence) of spending a night in the woods for abandoning 35 kittens in a forest in wintertime; he said: “You don’t do that. You don’t leave these poor little animals out and, yes, I wanted to set an example for her future conduct or anybody else who was contemplating doing such a thing”. On other occasions he ordered noisy neighbours to spend a day of silence in the forest or listen to classical music instead of rock. In all cases the judge attempts to place a link between the perpetrated offense and its punishment.

Due in part to the popularity of his actions, he has been re-elected since January 1994 to date (January 2016), and also won the presidency of the American Judges Association. He attributes his unusual approach to his background. He is an Eagle Scout, earning the award in 1964, as a member of Scout Troop 64 in Painesville, Ohio. He was the oldest of nine siblings who had to work on ore boats throughout the Great Lakes as a deckhand and deckwatch to fund himself through college. After graduating from St. Leo University in Florida, he became Clerk of the Painesville Municipal Court while attending Cleveland State University Law School at night.

Many of the victims, but also defendants, claim that his unusual approach has helped them to cope with their problems and the judge is reportedly inundated with letters from his admirers. Furthermore, where the national recidivism (repeat offender) rate is over 75%, the rate in Judge Cicconetti's court is just 10%.

His philosophy is exemplified by the following two quotations:

When you engage people and praise them for their good behavior, not unlike children, it helps their self-esteem. My judicial philosophy is really not that much different from a parental philosophy. I have five children. You can paddle them or spank them but what do you gain? Most people want to be good but for little obstacles or habits. We have to change the habits and remove the obstacles. That’s our job.

Sentences such as Cicconetti's are becoming more popular across the United States, and one judge has cited him specifically as being the influence for one of her own sentences.