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Two Boys Sentenced By Judge To Be Spanked For 47 Consecutive Days To Pay For Crime
In Philadelphia, the judicial system found an unusual way to address two youths who found themselves on the wrong side of the law
The American judicial system is often noted for its solemn adherence to formality and precedent. However, that doesn’t mean that things can get downright strange in a courtroom. A century ago, two teen Philadelphia boys received a very unusual punishment when they were sentenced by a judge to be spanked for 47 straight days because they had committed a breaking and entering.
In 1925, 14-year-old Leonard Hogg and 13-year-old George Reigle, both of Philadelphia, were in big trouble. They had been caught breaking into a neighborhood hardware store, where they proceeded to cause $94 in damage.
The two youths had to go to court to answer for what they had done. Appearing before Judge Raymond MacNeille, they were both accompanied by their fathers, who pleaded for leniency and offered to pay for all of the damage done if it would get their sons out of a more severe punishment.
The magistrate wasn’t particularly inclined to go easy on the boys because of the flagrant crime he believed they had committed. However, he finally…
