Woman sent out with 'idiot' sign as driving punishment
CLEVELAND (AP) - A woman caught on camera driving on a sidewalk to pass a Cleveland school bus that was unloading children stood in the cold Tuesday at an intersection holding a sign warning people about idiots.
A Cleveland Municipal Court judge ordered 32-year-old Shena Hardin to serve the highly public sentence for one hour Tuesday and Wednesday.
She arrived bundled up against the 34-degree cold, puffing a cigarette, wearing head phones and avoiding comment as passing vehicles honked.
Satellite TV trucks were on hand to stream the event live near downtown Cleveland.
The sign read: "Only an idiot would drive on the sidewalk to avoid a school bus."
Hardin's license was suspended for 30 days and she was ordered to pay $250 in court costs.
Lisa Kelley, whose 9-year-old daughter boards the bus which Hardin had been passing on the sidewalk, said the sentence fit the crime.
"She's an idiot, just like the her sign says," Kelley said as she watched Hardin lean against a fence, her head down and her eyes hidden by dark glasses.
"She did this almost every day last year," Kelley said. "She won't stop laughing. She's not remorseful, she laughed at every court appearance. She's still laughing, so she needs to be humiliated like this."
Kelley said she was only sorry the woman was standing in the cold and not the rain or snow.
Bill Lipold, 37, who works nearby in the blue-collar neighborhood of older homes and factories, yelled "Why do you hate kids" to Hardin.
He hopes the punishment works. "How else are you going to stop her from doing it again? She really didn't show remorse for her action after being caught, so you've got to try something," he asked.
With two schools located with two blocks of the location and busy commuter traffic, the area can be risky for youngsters walking to class, Lipold said.
A Cleveland Municipal Court judge ordered 32-year-old Shena Hardin to serve the highly public sentence for one hour Tuesday and Wednesday.
She arrived bundled up against the 34-degree cold, puffing a cigarette, wearing head phones and avoiding comment as passing vehicles honked.
Satellite TV trucks were on hand to stream the event live near downtown Cleveland.
The sign read: "Only an idiot would drive on the sidewalk to avoid a school bus."
Hardin's license was suspended for 30 days and she was ordered to pay $250 in court costs.
Lisa Kelley, whose 9-year-old daughter boards the bus which Hardin had been passing on the sidewalk, said the sentence fit the crime.
"She's an idiot, just like the her sign says," Kelley said as she watched Hardin lean against a fence, her head down and her eyes hidden by dark glasses.
"She did this almost every day last year," Kelley said. "She won't stop laughing. She's not remorseful, she laughed at every court appearance. She's still laughing, so she needs to be humiliated like this."
Kelley said she was only sorry the woman was standing in the cold and not the rain or snow.
Bill Lipold, 37, who works nearby in the blue-collar neighborhood of older homes and factories, yelled "Why do you hate kids" to Hardin.
He hopes the punishment works. "How else are you going to stop her from doing it again? She really didn't show remorse for her action after being caught, so you've got to try something," he asked.
With two schools located with two blocks of the location and busy commuter traffic, the area can be risky for youngsters walking to class, Lipold said.
It would have been better to make her have the choice of jail or mopping up at the emergency room or morgue, find out what happens when kids are hit by cars.Â
Oh, and the worst part is that she did this everyday for a year or more. It took them that long to do something about her. If the video didn't go on youtube I bet they still wouldn't have done anything until a child got hurt.
LOL. See. Even the judicial system can be childish. Give this woman a real punishment meant for an adult not a child. Fine her out the ass not just $250 and revoke her license for a year or more not just thirty days.
Take her car back sell it and use it for education funding... this dumb POS does not care and think the world serves her.. I say take much more away this lady should not even be able to own anything with wheels!
Â
Also she should not be able to wear any shades or anything to cover her face... we want to see what this POS looks like and she deserves all the humiliation and scorn someone this inconsiderate deserves!
Doesn't this go against the 8th amendment?
"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."
Cruel and unusual punishments inflicted? I don't think so. Excessive fines imposed? Asolutely not. Excessive bail? there wasn't any. So, I see nowhere this is going against the 8th amendment. Quite frankly, I think her driver license should be pulled, she needs to be fined an amount that will hurt, and should be required to take driving and safety classes until a judge signs off that she is responsible enough to drive again - several years down the road!
 @The Kev Remember, way back when, the stocks were not considered cruel and unusual.  And heck, they were even allowed to throw stuff at you!  It's not like we're tattooing this statement on her forehead.  That would probably go on the cruel and unusual side. Â
 @stamperzann  @The Kev Stamp, you are referring to a time way before Kev's statement.Â
Public humiliation is a double-edged sword. Â Unfortunately, this will escalate into her future and personal life. Â Everywhere she goes and everything she does, people (employers, hospitality, strangers, etc... ) will only judge her on the incident(s) and tune out anything else, even after she has learned and paid (doing the time) for her lesson (hopefully). Â People love holding biases and grudges, as naive scientists. Â It's a lot easier for them to cope with the many variations that confront them in everyday life; that is, less thinking. Â
It seems that she has done this many times? Watching the video, it looks like they were expecting this to happen.
She should have had to ride a school bus every morning and every afternoon for a week. Let her see what a driver has to go through to get kids safely to school!
should have put the selfish bit@h in jail for a month.. Nobody should be in such a hurry as to run over kids because you don't want to wait for them to safely unload..
She SHOULD have been placed on an obstacle course sidewalk, dodging cars for a couple of days  like a human "Frogger" game. THEN she might be remorseful. This punishment, though humiliating, probably won't teach THIS ididot a thing.
She is an idiot!!!!! She got off easy!
Ha, ha, ha, ha! She should NOT be allowed to wear sunglasses though.
 @HonkeyCat Or headphones!
I disagree about the sentence fitting a crime, I think it's too easy. She drove on the side walk every school day for a good portion of the year. I think an hour a day for a month would have been appropriate. Stick her in a good spot where all the holiday shoppers can see her with no glasses, no headphones, no cigarettes and no hair in the face.
She did it all last school year? Â Wow. Â Maybe she should never have a license again, rather than a 30-day suspension. Â Not that it keeps people from driving.........
Dang, I wish we could fix our comments. Â I watched the video. Â What a JERK! Â The sentence is way too light, especially if she was pulling that move day after day after day. Â
I needed something to lighten up my day. Thanks Shena!
This woman should not be allowed to have a license.
Only an hour for two days... sheesh... give her that duty for a year and two hours for every sporting event with massive media coverage! What a freaking idiot is right... this one is on a whole new level!
Doesn't go far enough......obvious she doesn't take it seriously. Judge should look at these pictures and refuse to accept this......hope he holds her in contempt and sentences her to 4 hrs a day for a week to make up for this lack of respect for the court. Just another entitlement princess who doesn't believe anybody but her matters in life. Too many "useful idiots" like her in this country these days.
This comment has been deleted
 @Darwin Williams Next time take the red pill.
Wouldn't it be ironic if a car came up on the sidewalk and hit her?Â
I wish we would start doing this! Love to embarrass these morons!
I'd like to know why she's still able to drive? When will they take her license away, when she kills a child?
 @kramouse Or an adult, or an animal.Â
I would love to have heard the conversation between the driver and the cop!
It's the, "you can be first right after me", mentality that will never go away in some people.
Lady should have faced jail time, a 1 year suspension and thousands in fines. Â This kind of negligence is on par with DUI. Â Completely ridiculous. Â And the worst part is how smug she looks about it.
This will not work. About the only thing that went on in this stupid woman's mind was, "It's only an hour and then this stupid bullsh[beep]t is over. What a joke. All these people honking at me are the idiots."
 @Sovereign Unfortunately, I believe you are right.
Â
tar & feather
Whatever happened to that little thing about avoiding cruel and unusual punishment? This is pretty unusual, I hope she sues and the city of Cleveland municipal court and wins a ton of money
@Larry*X*K I'm 93% confident she's one of your fellow Obamabots. How does that make you feel?
 @Larry*X*K If judges hand out more sentences like this, then it's not unusual, is it?
 You must be one of those people that live off of law suites instead of working.
 @kramouse keep guessing, you're way off reality
 @Larry*X*K Public humiliation is not unusual. Parents do it to kids all the time. I say 1 hour was not long enough. Make her follow the bus on a bicycle with the sign....for a week.
 @Larry*X*K Are you frickin joking me?! She more then deserved this.
She doesn't look very remorseful at all.Â
Â
Next time she does it, put her in The Stocks for a few days... that MIGHT get her attention.
Haha.....Idiot
Hey "idiot-woman!"Â Stand up straight so everyone can get a good look at that crappy sign of yours!
Why wasn't her license suspended? What is so important that she can't wait 1 minute for a school bus to load or unload. This woman is a menance to the road and children.
@Mizattitude "Hardin's license was suspended for 30 days and she was ordered to pay $250 in court costs."
Huge Moron!!! Better than just a ticket!! But the sign should have been bigger letters, in red, and on a sandwich board which she had to wear front and back, maybe a dunce hat too!!! No sunglasses or headphones either!!
She should not have been allowed to wear sunglasses, headphones or even a hat. Â She should have had to face all those people head on. Â That is punishment. Â Too bad neither will likely stop her obnoxious behavior. Â And the sign should have said selfish pig instead of idiot.
I agree, no hat, no glasses, no head phones, no cell phone and a stipulation that she wear a professional sandwich board (one that you could actually read) while standing on the corner so that people can see her.