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When 24-year-old Andrew Vactor of Urbana, Ohio, United States was convicted of violating the city's noise ordinance, Judge Susan J. Fornof-Lippencott offered to reduce the normal fine of US$150 to $35 if he agreed to listen to 20 hours of classical music. Fifteen minutes into the sentence the rap music fan changed his mind and paid the full fine in order to end his probation. The sentence would have included selections from Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Claude Debussy. Chief Probation Officer Glenda Runkle says the department keeps three CDs for this type of sentence.
Champaign County Municipal Court Judge Fornof-Lippencott told the Springfield News-Sun she often assigns creative sentencing options. "I think a lot of people don't like to be forced to listen to music. And I think sometimes the defendants ... are put in the position the general public is put in." She also selects episodes of Dr. Phil and The Oprah Winfrey Show that she considers relevant to other misdemeanor offenses and supplies copies to the probation department. "The idea, hopefully, is that it will inspire people not to come back for the same violation. It offers an opportunity for them to cut down on their fines and costs and at the same time broaden their horizons."
Although Judge Fornof-Lippencott hopes these sentences "might enlighten defendants", Vactor denied that musical taste played a role in his decision to pay the full fine. Vactor, a student at Urbana University, told reporters he needed to leave for basketball team practice. "I didn’t have the time to deal with that," he said. "I just decided to pay the fine."
source: + Show Spoiler +http://www.bizarrenews.org/content/view/61/1/
lol... interesting, new type of discipline. I dunno wtf i'd do if i got fined for playing SC, and they forced me to play 20 hours of wc3.
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where's the jail part o O;
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What a lame excuse, the music's not that bad. It's quite good, like popcorn.
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obviously hed be listening to classical music while IN jail.
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HonestTea
5007 Posts
Hahaha "Fuck that, I'll pay the extra 115 dollars"
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Well 20 hours of music is a lot I think, they might have made him sit in a room and do nothing to make sure that he listens to it.
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20 hours of classical? Man I would pay to listen! (wait, I probably have over 20 hours of classical sitting in a cd case somewhere)
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On October 24 2008 11:38 XCetron wrote: Well 20 hours of music is a lot I think, they might have made him sit in a room and do nothing to make sure that he listens to it.
lol i can picture him going insane holding his head with his hand pulling his hair out and then finally breaking and goes out to his car and drives back home and turns his rap back on.
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Being an avid fan of classical music and a somewhat proficient violinist, I really wouldn't mind listening to it except for that 20 hour thing. There's ABSOLUTELY no way I can listen to ANY type of music in the car for over two hours. It just gets to me and starts sounding like slowly churned shit (no matter what piece it is) after that 2 hour mark or so. I don't know. Everything starts sounding like the same piece by then.
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I listen to classical 12 hrs a day on my offdays sometimes.
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For the 20 hours he saved he could have worked a minimal wage job (6.55 in america,and perhaps still listen to his rap music) and he would actually end up making $16 by paying the extra $115. Or, he could have just worked 17.55 hours and make the 115.
I'm all for creative sentencing, but paying the fine was just the better option.
20+(If he doesn't want to do all 20 straight) hours in jail forced to do nothing but listen to music he doesn't like for $115 dollars which he could make back in less than 20 hours. (Although would be a bit more because he wouldn't work it all in one shift so there would be traveling time. (where he could listen to rap.)
Of course this changes if he could leave the jail after $35 and come back at his leisure (within reason) to listen to classical then its much better. But the way I understood the punishment it was a pointless alternative that would never be chosen.
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Bach? Beethoven? Chopin? Debussy? These guys are amazing! okay, so i'm not as big a fan of bach, but beethoven is absolutely amazing. maybe they should have thrown in some holst or some mahler.
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On October 24 2008 11:47 randombum wrote: For the 20 hours he saved he could have worked a minimal wage job (6.55 in america,and perhaps still listen to his rap music) and he would actually end up making $16 by paying the extra $115. Or, he could have just worked 17.55 hours and make the 115.
I'm all for creative sentencing, but paying the fine was just the better option.
20+(If he doesn't want to do all 20 straight) hours in jail forced to do nothing but listen to music he doesn't like for $115 dollars which he could make back in less than 20 hours. (Although would be a bit more because he wouldn't work it all in one shift so there would be traveling time. (where he could listen to rap.)
Of course this changes if he could leave the jail after $35 and come back at his leisure (within reason) to listen to classical then its much better. But the way I understood the punishment it was a pointless alternative that would never be chosen.
Yeah, but he went to basketball practice. It's reality here, not theorycrafting.
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On October 24 2008 11:49 vAltyR wrote: Bach? Beethoven? Chopin? Debussy? These guys are amazing! okay, so i'm not as big a fan of bach, but beethoven is absolutely amazing. maybe they should have thrown in some holst or some mahler. I personally don't like Bach either (Chopin, Holst, Prokofiev, Sibelius <3).
But honestly, I doubt anyone in here could sit in a cell and do nothing but listen to classical music for 20 hours straight without getting frustrated or mad. The sheer amount of time involved is overwhelming x.x
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this is like forcing someone to eat 10 pounds of ice cream, aka it's actually torture.
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gg
I like classical but when you're a rap fan and gets this sudden change, he might go insane. HAha.
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He was probably pissed because there was no Mozart.
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United States22883 Posts
On October 24 2008 11:29 Sp1ralArch1tect wrote: O.o its a mental prison. This.
It sounds creative, but really the judge should not be doing this.
She also selects episodes of Dr. Phil and The Oprah Winfrey Show that she considers relevant to other misdemeanor offenses and supplies copies to the probation department.
Seriously, it's out of line.
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Uhh isnt this under the unusual or cruel part ?
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On October 24 2008 11:41 Smokin_Squirrel wrote: Being an avid fan of classical music and a somewhat proficient violinist, I really wouldn't mind listening to it except for that 20 hour thing. There's ABSOLUTELY no way I can listen to ANY type of music in the car for over two hours. It just gets to me and starts sounding like slowly churned shit (no matter what piece it is) after that 2 hour mark or so. I don't know. Everything starts sounding like the same piece by then.
It clearly wasn't meant to be 20 hours in one sitting. If it worked like that, 100 hours of community service would be a death sentence.
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On October 24 2008 12:20 MadNeSs wrote: Atleast it's not opera.
LOL, i can't imagine myself listening to opera.
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On October 24 2008 11:58 Smokin_Squirrel wrote:Show nested quote +On October 24 2008 11:49 vAltyR wrote: Bach? Beethoven? Chopin? Debussy? These guys are amazing! okay, so i'm not as big a fan of bach, but beethoven is absolutely amazing. maybe they should have thrown in some holst or some mahler. I personally don't like Bach either (Chopin, Holst, Prokofiev, Sibelius <3). But honestly, I doubt anyone in here could sit in a cell and do nothing but listen to classical music for 20 hours straight without getting frustrated or mad. The sheer amount of time involved is overwhelming x.x Can you really say you don't like Toccata and Fuge in D Minor with a straight face? Best music ever. I'm not a total classical music person, but I love Bach's organ works  + Show Spoiler +
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what about Liszt!! why was there none of that!!
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On October 24 2008 12:20 Nintu wrote:Show nested quote +On October 24 2008 11:41 Smokin_Squirrel wrote: Being an avid fan of classical music and a somewhat proficient violinist, I really wouldn't mind listening to it except for that 20 hour thing. There's ABSOLUTELY no way I can listen to ANY type of music in the car for over two hours. It just gets to me and starts sounding like slowly churned shit (no matter what piece it is) after that 2 hour mark or so. I don't know. Everything starts sounding like the same piece by then. It clearly wasn't meant to be 20 hours in one sitting. If it worked like that, 100 hours of community service would be a death sentence.
Well put.
Someone mentioned cruel? I don't think it's cruel. Especially if there are so many people in here that listen to classical music on the daily... However, if they were forced to listen to like a recording of a baby crying (played backwards for added effect), that would be cruel.
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HaHAHhHAhHA smart. serves him right.
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LMAO thats hilarious. especially because after 15 minutes he backed down and paid the complete fine. it must have been horrible haha
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I think you people that like classical music are kind of missing the point. Image a genre of music you absolutely can't stand and then you are being forced to listen to it for 20 hours. That's basically what the judge was going to make him do to lessen the fine.
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Duke_ss said what I was going to say; for all the classical listeners, imagine being forced to listen to some music you detest for 20 hours. I would pay the extra fine if I was forced to listen to hours of screamo or rap.
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MyLostTemple
United States2921 Posts
wow this is retarded. go train your kids to associate classical music with punishment.
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ROFL he listens to the first 15 minutes of 20 hours then decides "fuck this" and pays the money. 20 hours though is a loooong time to sit and listen to classical music though lol.
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On October 24 2008 12:22 YPang wrote:LOL, i can't imagine myself listening to opera.
opera is a trillion times better then rap, and wtf is wrong with classical music. Is it the sheer talent needed to compose let alone play it? or is it the technicality that makes people hate it. 'Ill be damned if i can listen to anything that consists mostly of lame drum beats and clumsy stupid lyrics about 'fucking ma hoe'
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On October 24 2008 12:16 IzzyCraft wrote: Uhh isnt this under the unusual or cruel part ? Meh waterboarding isnt, why not this? Haha jk, this is honestly a bad Idea from the Judge, if she wanted to be creative she should have made him write an essay on how classical music has affected his life or something. Offering him a small amount of cash to listen to 20 hrs of classical music is retarded since most people dont want to listen to 20 hrs of music anyway.
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Canada9720 Posts
maybe she watched Clockwork Orange the other night or something
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What if the judge were a fan of boy bands instead of classical music and sentenced him to 20 hours of Nsync and the Jonas Brothers? I might pay the fine too instead of listening to music I hated. I guess the punishment kind of fits the crime though, since the guy's neighbors were forced to listen to his music.
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Hmm... I don't really think anyone really dislikes classical music. But there are two types of rap listeners (same with metal and other extreme music types): one type listens to it because he genuinely likes it (*shudder*), the other type listens to it because he wants to be cool (in front of his peers or just in general. He might like or dislike the music, but that's not the point for him (I was like that when I was 16 (only it was Punk Rock in my case))). If that guy is the latter type, he will probably hate it because to him classical music would be "gay" or something, and he would feel threatened to be falling from his throne of coolness. If he's the former type though, I guess he'll have no problems listening to it...
But yes, very weird court decision.
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