# Ohio dad gets jail for mocking girl with cerebral palsy **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 28, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405 "2012-11-28T21:19:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/21 "2012-11-29T02:56:53Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Except that the guy agreed that he was guilty of criminal conduct. He stood in front of a judge and heard the judge explain each element of the crime and then he agreed that the state could prove him guilty, and that he was entering the plea because he was, in fact, guilty. Bullshit. I’ve stood in front of a judge and heard the judge explain each element of the crime and then agreed that the state could prove me guilty, _ **because someone lied through their teeth to get me there** _. Pleading guilty in this country is in no fucking way proof you did what you were accused of. Innocent people plead guilty every fucking day and you God-Damn-Well know it. ---
**Author:** ![tomcar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tomcar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomcar)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/22 "2012-11-29T03:05:00Z")
If I was the girls father, I would request that he do community service, like working with handicapped kids in school or something but request for no jail time on principle alone. The guy needs experience dealing with this type of population, more than being housed and fed on the taxpayers dime. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/23 "2012-11-29T03:06:28Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > … the deterrent effect is needed here. Jerkiness needs to be deterred with jail time? Are you comfortable with the implications of this? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/24 "2012-11-29T03:19:42Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Jerkiness needs to be deterred with jail time? > > Are you comfortable with the implications of this? There’s no implications. I’m talking about this specific case, not adopting this as a general principle. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/25 "2012-11-29T03:22:36Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > There’s no implications. I’m talking about this specific case, not adopting this as a general principle. That’s the problem with the legal system. Precedents get set. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/26 "2012-11-29T03:23:54Z")
> [@Atakapa](#): > > First they came for George Carlin, and I said nothing because I wasn’t George Carlin. Then they came for Louis CK, and I said nothing because I wasn’t Louis CK… 😛 If they eventually come for Carrot Top this may be something I can get behind. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/27 "2012-11-29T03:25:11Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > That’s the problem with the legal system. Precedents get set. Fine. I hope it gets overturned on appeal. After he’s served 30 days in jail. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/28 "2012-11-29T03:28:22Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Bullshit. I’ve stood in front of a judge and heard the judge explain each element of the crime and then agreed that the state could prove me guilty, _ **because someone lied through their teeth to get me there** _. Pleading guilty in this country is in no fucking way proof you did what you were accused of. Innocent people plead guilty every fucking day and you God-Damn-Well know it. You should read what I wrote again. I didn’t say he was in fact guilty. I said he answered “Yes,” when a judge asked him if he was pleading guilty because he was, in fact, guilty. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/29 "2012-11-29T03:29:36Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Fine. I hope it gets overturned on appeal. After he’s served 30 days in jail. He cannot appeal. He entered a plea of guilty. That waives all claims of defect. (Well, technically, it waives all non-jurisdictional claims of defect). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/30 "2012-11-29T03:30:51Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > He cannot appeal. He entered a plea of guilty. That waives all claims of defect. (Well, technically, it waives all non-jurisdictional claims of defect). Ok, fine with me. 30 days in jail, no appeal. I still don’t have a problem with it. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/31 "2012-11-29T03:37:47Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > You should read what I wrote again. > > I didn’t say he was in fact guilty. I said he answered “Yes,” when a judge asked him if he was pleading guilty because he was, in fact, guilty. Then why make your post at all? You agree there’s a chance he’s Innocent, right? What are you trying to say?; “He admitted it but I agree it may be coerced and there’s a good chance the guy did nothing wrong.”? ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/32 "2012-11-29T03:41:43Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > Jail for maybe making fun of a handicapped person? That’s lame. I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/33 "2012-11-29T03:44:50Z")
> [@tomcar](#): > > If I was the girls father, I would request that he do community service, like working with handicapped kids in school or something but request for no jail time on principle alone. Obviously a fine, upstanding gentleman like this would be sure to go into his community service with a broken, contrite spirit and resolute attitude, eager to grow and learn from his misdeeds by service to those less fortunate than himself, rather than having a sullen, resentful attitude, doing as little actual work as humanly possible, and constantly calling the lucky children he is working with “toddler tards” or “his little palsy pals” under his bourbon-perfumed breath. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/34 "2012-11-29T03:56:58Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > The defendant should have said “in recognition of Frank Fontaine and Jerry Lewis, I was observing National Make Fun of the Handicapped Week.” Thanks for that, Tom. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/35 "2012-11-29T05:23:01Z")
I’m now less puzzled about why the USA has such a high prison population. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/36 "2012-11-29T05:28:51Z")
> [@tellyworth](#): > > I’m now less puzzled about why the USA has such a high prison population. He’s going to jail, not prison. However, our jails are overcrowded also, mostly with people awaiting trial who will be released based on time served when they’re finally convicted. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/37 "2012-11-29T05:47:07Z")
Was this guy his own lawyer? I think the sentence was too harsh. Maybe if he tried to fight it and kept up with the BS excuses about being injured himself. I think the court of public opinion would have been bad enough with the youtube video. Of course he’ll be fired and will wreck his life. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/38 "2012-11-29T05:56:49Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > He’s going to jail, not prison. Ah, l18n error. I meant imprisonment in its most general sense. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/39 "2012-11-29T09:04:59Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Except that the guy agreed that he was guilty of criminal conduct. He stood in front of a judge and heard the judge explain each element of the crime and then he agreed that the state could prove him guilty, and that he was entering the plea because he was, in fact, guilty. Per the OP’s link (and a second I double-checked) he plead ‘no contest’. IIRC, he didn’t admit guilt, he admitted that if he went to trial he’d likely be convicted. Further, though I don’t know the specifics of his jurisdiction, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have had to allocute to the charges–to say that he was entering the plea because he was, in fact, guilty. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405/40 "2012-11-29T09:22:03Z")
Considering even Fred Phelps has not been imprisoned despite being consistently far more vicious then this fellow, it would have been preferable to just let this guy be publically humiliated. Considering the power of the Internet, it probably is not any better then being clapped to the stocks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-dad-gets-jail-for-mocking-girl-with-cerebral-palsy/642405.md?page=3)