Cellphone justice: Three weeks in jail for a ringing cellphone

A judge in Long Island went Judge Judy on a 17-year-old girl who was in court facing drug possession charges after her cellphone started ringing during a hearing. The judge had already warned everyone to shut off all electronic devices or face contempt charges, and when the girl's cellphone started ringing he setenced her to 21 days in jail, which she had to start serving immediately.

[The Dude @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

She looks like a hardcore cellphone user.

[TheZodiac @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

Im psyched this was in the US. Now maybe people will stop f*ing around. And to the family in front of my little brother and I in the movie theater (National Treasure rocked) You can go f* yourselves also. Shut them off, or I will electrocute you.

[paul @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

Good call judge

[Kasamaan Drakon @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

Yay! 21 days of no school...

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

I don't get the big problem people have with cell phones. Yes, there are the bad apples who talk loudly and are inconsiderate, but the majority of users aren't like that. If you are eating out and hear someone talking at the next table, why is that a bad thing? Talking on a phone would be just as distracting to you as talking to another person at the same table.

In short, stop the cell phone jihad and get over yourself grandpa. Cell phones are how we communicate now.

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

I don't get the big problem people have with cell phones. Yes, there are the bad apples who talk loudly and are inconsiderate, but the majority of users aren't like that. If you are eating out and hear someone talking at the next table, why is that a bad thing? Talking on a phone would be just as distracting to you as talking to another person at the same table.

In short, stop the cell phone jihad and get over yourself grandpa. Cell phones are how we communicate now.

[Kurt @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

Hah, best cellphone court story I've heard is this (true story, btw): A judge was extremely anti cellphones in his courtroom, and happened to see one of the lawyers putting a phone away. The judge dials the lawyer's cell phone from the bench, causing it to go off. After the lawyer scrambles for the phone and turns it off, the lawyer hits him with a contempt of court fine.

[Geoffrey Gallaway @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

I don't mind people talking on their cell phone in most situations but I do mind when I hear a piezo speaker reproducing a MIDI version of the latest Bratney Spears "song" at 100db in a quiet environment.

[TheZodiac @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

The problem with cell phone and the aholes that use them are, that they are usually speaking more lously then they wouldif having a private conversation with a person directly in front of them.

Stun gun here I come:
http://tinyurl.com/3jhzd

[Joel McLaughlin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

Boy....bunch of offtopic things here. Let's cut to the chase. Your in court for DRUG POSSESION! Your trying to get out of a sentence. You SHOULD turn off your damn cellphone. It's that simple.

[Eion @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

Being thrown in jail for contempt of court just for having your cellphone on is pretty excessive, though - most judges would just have instructed the bailiffs to confiscate the phone.

And a courtroom is *very* different to a restaurant or even a cinema. Put your damn phone on silent, people.

[Asher @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

It'd be nice to see ppl arrested and jailed right from the theater next. I don't know why ppl don't just install blockers -illegal or not.

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

People were admonished to turn them off...so I kinda get it. But 21 days? Really? For a ringing phone?

[Sam Hongisto @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

cellphones violate the social contract and allow people to be private in public - which is certainly their right but is rude and clearly damaging to our very concept of what is "public" and what is not. I'll never own one and I pity those who use this technology as a crutch and allow it to dominate their communication, reducing their face-to-face talks with friends and family, their letter-writing, etc.

At least email requires you sit down and think to compose something.

[rich @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

Yeah, I don't get it either. No-one's going to go "Oh, I should be more considerate with my cellphone" when they hear about this. They're going to go "Wow, that judge is crazy", or "Wow, the legal system sure is broken." Neither of those seem to be the desired result of a contempt of court charge.

It pretty much sounds like a judge threw a tantrum over a ringing phone. Those of you who think that cellphones are a social problem do not want people like this judge representing your side in the papers.

[Shane @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

This is scary. I'm afraid I'll get excommunicated now if my cell phone rings in Church.

[Ricky @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

Yeah, there's not a problem with people talking on their phones in restaurants, but I dare you to find a phone nowadays that doesn't have a silent "vibrate" mode. There's a reason that's there, people. Common curtesy is to turn it on silent when you're in a public place. You can still answer it, and talk, but I don't care to hear your favorite MIDI file. And to those few bastards who decide that a restaurant is a good place to listen to every single ringtone on your phone, THAT'S NOT COOL. And don't answer it in the theatre.

[Fezmid @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

If you have a smartphone, you can run a program called "MiniGPS" to automatically set your phone's settings based on where you are. For example, when I go to the movie theater, my phone automatically goes into vibrate mode. When I go to work, the screen changes to my company logo. When I go to a hockey game, it switches to vibrate (since I wouldn't be able to hear it), etc. I could even have it send an SMS message when I get to a certain location (but I can't think of why I'd want that...). Handy peice of software:

http://www.psiloc.com/index.html?action=ShowArticleItem&ida=154
or
http://tinyurl.com/4zj9k

[Froggy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

She's in court facing drug charges and does not have the common sense to -- at the very least -- put the phone on mute? They should have added another 3 months for stupidity!!! Jeez!!!

[iomatic @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

Would a publicly-known silent space do well to create an organization to work with cell phone manufacturers in blocking ringing (not actual connections)? That would prevent a lot of problems, when say, you walk in to a theater, and all cell phones go silent (but are still able to vibrate). That way, doctors on call or other emergency personnel aren't hemmed up by total blockers. I see restaurants installing them at some point, too. Will it make most of us lazy? Sure. but it's a good compromise.

[Steven L @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

This is scary. I'm afraid I'll get excommunicated now if my cell phone rings in Church.


"If it ain't God, you better not answer it."

[cmoney @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

social contract: get over yourself. use it as a crutch? for what? sorry bud, my family is all over the country and without a family plan, we wouldn't be able to afford to talk to each other! our cell phones enable more intimate conversation than any email ever could.

and why is it rude to be private in public? never understood that.

take your jihad to the middle east. oh wait, even the saudis are thinking of lifting the camera phone ban.

[Lunar Coyote @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

Good call to the judge.

My only beef: What, 21 days ONLY???

[Unknown @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

Well it should really be more than 21 days IMO.

You're in court, and it is one of the most civilized place in the world to be. You better have the sense of turning off devices that would make noise.

Cruel? I think not! Everyone was warned ahead of time.

[Phreak511 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

If any of you nimrods had bothered to READ the article in the first place, the judge ran her Contempt sentence CONCURRENTLY (read: AT THE SAME TIME) to the drug one. So, she didn't really get 21 days for the cell phone.

In any event, I hope she and her moronic PARENTS (wonder where they were, BTW) learn to show just a little respect next time they find themselves in court.

[Alan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

She (and everyone) was forewarned. That's how a lot of people are these days... you have to tell 'em more than once. Have you ever eavesdropped on any of these obnoxious conversations? "Hello, how are you?" "I'm at a restaurant, eating." "Is the food good?" "Very. It's crowded in here. What are you doing?" "I'm ok, watching TV." Such idle chatter. That phone call in the courtroom was probably her dealer trying to sell her some more nose candy.

[Ann @ Dec 19th 2005 12:07AM]

Now, when you're in a public place and a baby starts crying, it's pretty annoying. However, you can't expect those parents to never leave the house simply because they have an infant. People need to have a little tolerance. We cannot have societal rules about who can do what where all the time. If it isn't directed at you, it's none of your business. Court, of course, is a special situation, and cell phones should obviously be turned off.