Mobile Phone Rage – Judge Jails An Entire Courtroom
Technorati tags: guardian, news, judge, mobile, phone, frenzy
Mobile phones can be annoying. Personally I would hate it if I was a judge and had some cell phone ringing during a court session. That’s one of the times when you really be making use of your answering service. Or if you don’t wanna go as far as completely switching it off, you may as well just mute the ringtone, set it to vibrate only ect ect… People are seriously inconsiderate sometimes but has this judge gone too far? I think he should have just jailed the person whose phone wouldn’t stop ringing: Found this on the Guardian
A US judge has been removed from the bench after jailing 46 people when a mobile phone began ringing during his court session and no one would own up.
The entire courtroom was sent to the cells during a domestic violence hearing when the judge, Robert Restaino, 48, “snapped” and – according to a review of his actions – “engaged in what can only be described as two hours of inexplicable madness”.
Talking bout overreacting… there has to be more to this, assuming a judge is of reasonable intelligence and judgement, one doesn’t just lose his marbles over a ringing mobile and jails the whole courtroom.
The bizarre episode began on March 11 2005, when the judge was presiding at Niagara Falls City court over a slate of domestic violence cases.
A mobile phone rang and, furious at the intrusion, Restaino demanded to be told who owned it. “Every single person is gong to jail in this courtroom unless I get that instrument now,” he said.
“If anybody believes I’m kidding, ask some of the folks that have been here for a while. You are all going.”
A security officer was posted at the door while other officers tried to find the phone, but failed.
Finally, the judge scrapped plans to release the defendant in the dock and set bail for all 46 people present at $1,500 (£750).
Restaino, who has worked as a full-time judge since 2002, told the commission he had known that he had no legal basis for his actions and that they had been “improper and inexcusable”.
He told the panel he had been under stress in his personal life at the time of the incident.
There you have it, I bet this “personal stress” had something to do with mobile phones…