How does either punishment solve the problem of getting the kid to school? I don't see how Garza's helping anyone but his own pervy self with this idea.

This is ridiculous. Spanking a 15 year old child for this judge's pleasure. GROSS.

Geez. I come on here to see what's going on and I'm already sickened by the first 2 articles I see.

Does the strike-through the word "citizens" in the article above imply that CitizenSugar has the right to spank us with paddles?

This is totally pervy...

I think this sentence is about 12 years too late. If the kid is a discipline problem now, a spanking at 15 isn't going to help. Time to get the family to counseling.

UD! You just made my day (which so far has included a horrible morning commute) with that picture of yours!

I'm glad I could make your day better. That's my job.

Go Team Red

I love the picture too, UD! And your comments about 12 years too late.

I'm not against spanking, but doing it to a 15 year old publically is going to require serious amounts of counseling afterward. I'd take the $500 fine over the thousands in therapy.

I don't believe in spanking(which is more humiliating than painful), but doing it to a teenager? As Harmony said, that is gross.

Like Monday said, I am not against spanking, at an age and time when it is appropriate. 15, and in front of a court room is neither of those.

Hi Tres! I have not seen you in forever!!!!

Come on, it's TEXAS for goodness sake!

I bet that judge has been spanked by 15 year old girls.
This is really sicko

That's terrible! I mean I'm not anti-spanking but a 15 year old girl? And spanking in public? C'mon now...

I had a principal threaten to paddle me when I was in high school because I wasn't adhering to the dress code. My dad told the principal that if he spanked me my dad would in turn spank him. Needless to say I was never spanked. I was 16!

Or PADDLED rather.

Justice Garza and I use the term loosely has done nothing short of make a mockery of justice. He's perverted his power for his own amusement.

A creative community service that benefits society coupled with a fine would have been appropriate.

Hey Cine! I know, I've had primary hiatus!

Asking a grown man to spank his 15 year old step daughter while you watch is just gross. How is this not against the law? The public spanking of a teenage girl doesn't fall under the catagory of cruel and unusual?

This is ridiculous!

(the judge's sentencing)

FIFTEEN. No, should not be ordering a spanking at that point. It is not something the judge should be allowed to order. Sick and wrong. Somehow, hand or paddle, no parent should be spanking at that age...

Then again, I am not a believer in spanking - it doesn't promote problem solving and it just doesn't seem to work. It just makes the children humiliated in public and fulfills some strange need to punish on the judge's part.

Ugh.

I'm not sure what's worse, the judge suggesting the paddle....or the fact that the stepfather took that option and carried out the paddling?

megnmac - What would you suggest as an appropriate punishment for a 15 yr old who won't go to school? At this point she is obviousily a discipline problem.

I'm not anti-spanking (as a punishment, not abuse) but after a certain age... and in front of a court? Wrong on so many levels.

So, do we send her to boot camp where she can learn some discipline and self-respect?

What about community service, UnDave?

I think perhaps the parents can step up a bit too and maybe, I don't know, do some parenting.

What I want to know is how can the parents be pressing a restraining order on the judge when they choose to carry out the spanking?

I didn't realize that they hadn't carried out the sentence.

Having worked with kids on community service, I can tell you it doesn't work. They see the punishment, but not the crime.

The link included in the post says the step father carried out the sentence in April. But they could have just paid the $500 fine. So if they choose the spanking as the option they wanted, how do they have any moral high ground on which to sue? I realize moral high ground isn't a requirement of lawsuits, but it does make them look hypocritical.

Spanking a 15 year old is sooooo grossly inappropriate. I wonder if there are grounds to call that a cruel and unusual punishment, even with the alternative $500 fine. Why not community service?

See above. Community service by itself doesn't work.

Sit her butt down in school and have a truant officer stand over her. Suspend every privilege the child has until she goes to school and brings home a decent report card. Make her clean floors in a soup kitchen and make sure she understands that this is her future unless she gets serious about learning something. See if it's possible to find a reasonable adult in the state of Texas to mentor her.

Do you honestly think there are any reasonable people in Texas?

No, but I thought that sounded mean.

This guy is a PEDAFILE! and needs to be taken off the bench!
And as for the child, social services needs to step in and take her away.
Becaues no child (disobedient or not) needs to be with parents that would lesting to a Judge who told them to do someting that Ludacris or Perverse.
And then they wonder why the Girl is so disobedient, I mean look if the parents would do something like that in public it makes you wonder what goes on behind closed doors.

They didn't do it willingly, so I'm thinking not a whole lot of discipline goes on behind closed doors. I'm betting the parents aren't involved with the girls life.

That's completely disgusting.

Everyone from Texas is unreasonable? Nice...
Yea, skip the dirty old judge having a desire to watch a 15 year old girl being spanked, all I got from this thread is that Texans are unreasonable. I wonder why everyone and their effing mother decided to move here then... Maybe if we could get all the reasonable people that chose to move here from other states to leave, it would be a desirable location to live again.

This poor girl must be embarrassed to death. I think she learned her lesson now. Leave her alone now, please!

I got paddled by my pervy principal when i was 12 , for forgetting to bring in a signed report card (seriously) I was alone with him, terrified (my parents did not spank me) he had this huge paddle with holes drilled in it, grabbed me by my neck forced me onto his desk, and paddled me till I peed in my pants from the pain.

I left, ran across the street to my fathers business (small town) crying hysterically and told him what happened. My dad calmly closed his business, grabbed his gun off the gun rack in his truck (god bless america) and proceeded to scare that principal into resigning or being killed. He resigned.

@CaterpillarGirl-- OMG! I can't even imagine how terrible that must have been for you =/

Janneth: "Come on, it's TEXAS for goodness sake!"

What do you mean by this? Have you been to Texas?

And Dave, you are kidding, right?