Judge Michael Cicconetti is known for his creative and unusual sentences that he hands out to first-time offenders in his courtroom. Cicconetti, who has been a judge in Painesville, Ohio for over 25 years, believes that his unique sentences are a way to prevent minor offenses from escalating into more serious crimes.
Cicconetti’s sentences have been heavily publicized and are listed on Wikipedia, some of his most famous sentences include ordering a babysitter who hit a boy with a belt to read articles about the consequences of child abuse, and a man who called police officers “pigs” to stand on a street corner with a sign that read “This is not a police officer” next to a 350-pound pig.
In an interview with ABC News, Cicconetti explained that his approach to sentencing is to prevent criminal conduct from escalating at its early stages. He believes that most people who end up in state or federal prison start with minor offenses, and if they can be stopped or prevented from committing those offenses, then they will not go on to commit more serious crimes.
Cicconetti is convinced that his unusual sentences are effective, and in a 2017 interview with Attorney At Law Magazine, he recalled one of his most effective sentences, which involved a domestic dispute between a mother and her 18-year-old son. The son, who had berated his mom and thrown
