Half a lifetime ago when I was a teacher I took a class of girls to the local courthouse to observe the proceedings. A woman was brought in who had been caught shoplifting. She was a repeat offender but none of the girls that day heard that small detail. What they heard was that this woman was given months in detention for stealing a pair of sox. They heard her screaming and pleading for mercy, all to no avail. They talked about nothing else for days. They even retold this ex