Corporal Punishment Court

This short story is set in the same world as my other work, where corporal punishment is a legal form or judicial punishment. There are some brief references to my other stories, but you don't need to have read them to understand this.

This one is a half day in the life of a magistrate in this new world and focuses a little on how people find themselves being strapped down to the caning frame.

I hope you enjoy it despite the lack of "action".

Please do provide comments or feedback -- if you are not anonymous I will reply to direct feedback and I'm happy to chat about similar themes.

Thanks

JDB

***

Charles Ecclestone had been a Magistrate for 8 years when Corporal Punishment established into the statute. He had never been particularly interested in the subject before the change in law and therefore saw no reason why he should hurry to become involved in it as part of his justice career. Unlike some of his colleagues, he had not put himself forward for the training and then when it became mandatory, he undertook it with no greater interest than any of the other areas of Continual Professional Development required of him as a Justice of the Peace.

However, the day he had had to attend a Punishment Centre as part of his training, all that changed. He had seen the benefit of the system in it's simple brutality. One of the key benefits, in his opinion at least, was that when an offender had completed their punishment, they needn't worry any more about it. At its most basic level, the idea of sentencing an offender to corporal punishment for an eligible offence, allows them to get a Certificate of Satisfaction once it is completed, which in turn removes the citation from their record. Therefore, a person can be punished for an offence without that offence staying with them impeding future job and mortgage applications for a moment of stupidity.

There was also the advantage of being able to witness women being sentenced to corporal punishment such as caning or whipping, delivered in the nude. Clearly, men were punished too, but the girls were more fun to watch. Whilst it was almost never openly discussed, it was certainly considered a perk of the job by most of his colleagues.

Only certain offences were eligible for the scheme initially, primarily non violent relatively minor offences which were the staple work of the Magistrate's Courts. As time passed however, corporal punishment was introduced for some of the more serious offences too, albeit that was designed to be part of the punishment in these circumstances, rather than the punishment in its own right. The range of punishments got more severe, partly in their physical brutality, but more so in the shaming and humiliation of the offender. For example, the wearing of a metal collar was added to the statute, the only purpose of that was to make sure that everyone could see the person was an offender.

Corporal Punishment was an incredibly attractive option for the Ministry of Justice - it was so simple and effective. Even a fine issued to an offender required collection and enforcement where the criminal does not pay. Prison is obscenely expensive for society and even the community penalties such as working for free, required monitoring, supervision and further enforcement if the offender does not comply. Non of that with corporal punishment - arrive at a punishment centre, take your sentence and its all done with. Well, apart from the bruises of course.

Magistrate's normally sit as a bench of three. That way there is always a majority vote for any dispute in decision. Today though, Charles was sitting alone in the GPSO court as it was known. The 'Guilty Plea - Summary Only' court was reserved for simply, minor, non violent offences where the offender was pleading guilty. This enables a Magistrate to sit alone for speed and efficiency in dispensing justice.

He was due to head down to the court room shortly, finishing his first coffee of the day and reading the case files. He only had 6 offenders to deal with before lunch, which was relatively quiet for a Monday, where the weekend drunks normally appeared.

He had a good mix of offences to deal with including some speeding offences, a drunk in charge, a couple of thefts and a few driving without insurance. Most of these offenders would soon be feeling the kiss of the cane or some variation thereof.

He made it into court and nodded greetings to the various professionals in the room before the first case was called upon.

Felicity Strange was first up. She was 41 years old and a company director. She was average height and slightly over weight and was attractive, wearing a formal business dress that showed her cleavage in a classy, non flirty way which Charles decided to not to penalise her for. She had dark hair and pale smooth, largely unbleamished skin. She had been speeding and was summoned to court by the police because she was going fast enough to be considered that she was grossly in excess of the speed limit. She was traveling at 56mph in a 30mph zone and was near to a school.

She wittered through her remorse for the offence and why she should be permitted to keep her driving licence. Charles wasn't especially listening as he consulted his sentencing documents in front of him.

All the speed limits were set out and then the excess speeds set out in bands. So, in her case, she was in a 30mph zone and travelling at 56 put her in the top category. He then considered that her offence was during the day and outside a school. These factors pushed the seriousness up and therefore the severity of the punishment.

His document suggested that there should be a cane stroke per single mile per hour she was above the speed limit at this higher category which put her liable for 26 strokes of the cane which was close to the maximum permissible for this offence of 30 strokes so he rounded it up to that in his mind. The additional seriousness also needed to be addressed and he considered his enhancement options while looking down at her from the raised bench.

She was on the verge of tears, clearly aware of the type of fate that awaited her, the likely penalty in such cases being corporal punishment, and her a lady of good standing, at least, until now.

He considered what would be the most effective disincentive for her future offending. That was, at the most basic level, his core role here. He could order that her caning be carried out in public, but then he didn't want to make her position as a company director untenable. There was no point in seeing her lose her job. 'No,' he thought, she needs to be able to keep this private, but she needs to be really sure she doesn't want to be speeding, so this needs to stay with her longer than her bruises.

He looked at the other options for added humiliation, proven to be one of the most effective deterrents, often over the physical pain, and thought about her position and how she was probably fairly used to getting her own way. He was erring towards the punishments at the more sexual end of the range, perhaps a vaginal insert. Then he saw the perfect thing on his list. An enema!

No lasting effects but horribly humiliating for a woman such as herself, especially the manner in which they did it at the Punishment Centres. Nothing like a posh health spa there. She would be restrained tightly, completely naked and spread. Her tummy would end up painfully distended before being forced to release in front of the technician. 'Perfect,' he thought to himself. The caning and the enema can even be delivered together.

"Stand up please, Ms Strange," he instructed. He waited for her to stand. He could see that she was still holding herself together, but only just.

"You have pleaded guilty today to driving at excess speed contrary to the 1997 Road Traffic Management Regulations at a speed of 56 miles per hour in a thirty miles per hour zone. That is grossly in excess of the speed limit and the court takes a dim view of that given the potential consequences.

"Added to that are the aggravating factors of being near a school and during school hours."

He looked down at her again. Her breathing had sped up and she was standing with her hands clenched together in front of her, which served to emphasise her ample breasts. A small strand of her hair had fallen over her face, but she did nothing to correct that. She was looking back at him. If you were to look in a body language text book and looked up 'nervous' you could easily see a picture of her, he thought.

"I have decided to deal with this matter under the Corporal Punishment regulations," he stated matter of factly, pausing slightly for this to sink in. He watched her take a big breath in and steel herself for his next sentence.

"The maximum number of strokes of the cane I can order for speeding is thirty and I do so without hesitation," he said. Without pausing, he went on, "We then come to the aggravating matters and I have considered your standing in your company and decided not to order a public punishment," he paused again, waiting for her relief to take hold, before crushing it.

"I am therefore ordering the addition of a punishment enema which will be applied immediately after the caning is applied."

She gasped and couldn't hold onto her tears anymore. She began to cry openly in the dock.

"My court clerk will give you details about how to make an appointment for the execution of your sentence. You must do so within 28 days. I have decided not to revoke your licence on this occasion. Let this be a warning, if you find yourself here again, the next magistrate may not be so lenient."

He looked at her again, and then said added, "Do you understand everything that has been said?" he asked, trying to add a little compassion to his voice.

She nodded without verbalising her response, instead sniffing and wiping her tears.

"Ok. See my clerk on the way out. Next case please," he called. He watched as she turned around and headed towards the door, her butt swaying nicely in her dress.

The clerk stood up, "The next case, sir, is one of Miss Gisella Santini."

Charles looked up as the defendant approached the stand. She was clearly of Mediterranean decent, with light brown curly hair down to her mid back, deep dark brown eyes, large lips and a tanned complexion. She was wearing a dress that was respectable, but did nothing to hide her ample breasts, thin waist and curvy buttocks. He glanced down at the case file to discover that she was a 21 year old studying a Masters degree who was charged with being drunk in a public place.

The formalities of charges were dealt with by the clerk and, the prosecutor read the particulars of the case. She pled guilty and just as Charles was about to sentence her to twelve strokes of the strap, which was the usual accepted punishment for these matters, unusually, the prosecutor stood again.

"Sir, there is a slightly unusual dynamic here in that Miss Santini has a flight to Italy booked for the summer break and then she is spending some time at an archaeological site in her home country for her dissertation meaning she will be out of the country for a period of sixteen weeks, the implications of that being obvious to the officers of the Court," he explained. The implication was that the statute enabling corporal punishment also placed a statutory time limit of 90 days from sentence for the punishment to be executed. If she went away for sixteen weeks, she would be out of time upon her return.

"I would therefore make an application to you sir, that on this occasion, you make an exception and order an immediate public exposure punishment. I would not wish to impede Miss Santini's studies, but neither do I believe the offence should go unmarked. I have made enquires with my colleagues who tell me there is a display podium available here today and they could facilitate this. It is of course, a matter for you sir," he finished and then sat down.

Charles thought about this, it was certainly a little irregular, but perfectly legal. There could be no appeal as she had plead guilty in the GPSO court, so he didn't need to worry about due process. He cleared his throat, "Miss Santini, you have heard what has been said. I have essentially two options here, it is customary for this offence for the offender to receive a strapping punishment, but with your trip, it is unlikely that you will be able to go on your trip. Therefore, the prosecution is, very reasonably in my opinion, recommending a punishment in public, right now," he said.

"Given that this is a little irregular, I am going to give you the choice. The customary sentence is twelve strokes with the strap on your naked buttocks at a punishment centre however, the proposal is that you be taken from this court room, and locked on display naked in public, but you will be released today. If you take the strapping, that has to be completed before your planned return but you will not get a slot to receive that before you leave. If it isn't completed you will be liable for imprisonment and enhanced corporal punishment. What do you want to do?" he asked.

She was standing proud, and a little defiant in Charles' opinion, and when she replied her voice was strong and confident with a slight Italian accent. "I can not afford to change my trip and if I miss it then I will be unable to complete my dissertation this year and so I choose the punishment today please, sir."

"Very well," Charles began. The prosecutor stood up, before he could continue.

"I'm sorry Sir, I should have said before, I would like to request that an enhancement be added as otherwise, there will be no pain element, which may lead to claims of unfairness."

"I am sympathetic with that," Charles replied. "Miss Santini, you have pled guilty to being drunk in a public place and for this offence you are sentenced to a two hours of public exposure while restrained and with an enhancement of," he paused for a second, looking down his list. He needed something that was simple that wouldn't require a qualified technician. He found what he was looking for and continued, "an enhancement of nipple clamps applied," he said, in his best 'announcement' voice.

"Bailiff, if you could please take Miss Santini down. Miss Santini, I hope you do not find yourself in front of the court again and I wish you luck with your dissertation," he added.

The uniformed bailiff stepped to the young woman and removed her cuffs from her utility belt. The sound of the cuffs ratcheting was apparent to all on the room as was the gasp from her as they tightened around her slender wrists. Charles watched as she was led from court, entirely compliant and heading to meet her fate. He wondered what position she would be exposed in. It depended what frame was available, she would be either spread standing in an X shape or locked into a pillory, in the bent forward position. He glanced at his watch, and figured he might have a bit of time at lunchtime to see for himself.

The third of the day was a male who had been drunk and disorderly in a public place. He appeared in a full suit with a fancy lawyer and was wearing a chunky gold Rolex watch and had an air of superiority about him.

The prosecutor stood, "Sir, the case of Simon Williams is that on Saturday evening he was out drinking with his friends and became intoxicated to such a point where the bar maid in the establishment refused to serve him as is her duty under the licensing regulations and he became abusive. He was heard on CCTV to shout profanities at the bar maid, a 22 year old student at the local university and threatening to have her fired. A member of the public called the police and Mr Williams was arrested and gave a 'no comment' interview at the police station," without adding anything further, he sat down.

The expensive lawyer stood up and spoke for approximately ten minutes on the usual good character of his client, during which the defendant fixed Charles with a stare for most of it. Charles had already decided the sentence before the defence lawyer was half way through his speech. When the man sat back down, Charles stepped straight in, "Mr Williams, stand up," he instructed, curtly.

The man stood, his attitude and body language clearly telegraphing he thought this whole thing was a joke. "Mr Williams, you have pled guilty to being drunk and disorderly in a public place. Your offence is aggravated by your behaviour to the bar staff who were simply doing their job. You were rude and abusive, and frankly, I think you've been fortunate to avoid a more serious charge. You are sentenced to a two hour session in a public penis pillory with the enhancement of a chemically induced erection. You have twenty one days to make your appointment with the Ministry of Justice. You're free to go," Charles instructed.

The man looked like he was about to protest, but his lawyer placed his hand on the man's arm and he didn't say anything. Charles hoped that he would have some time to think while his throbbing cock was locked into the pillory and he stood naked in public.

The next case was a 32 year old man who had been caught sitting, asleep behind the wheel of his car while intoxicated. He had not driven anywhere, nor could Charles see any evidence that he had intended to but the statute was firm in such behaviour. 24 lashes to his back was ordered and the man accepted graciously.

Next up was a prolific shoplifter whom Charles had met several times before. Her shoplifting was commensurate with her family and economic circumstances. A very sad case of someone stuck in the system. If memory served Charles, last time this 31 year old brunette had been in front of him he had ordered her breasts be whipped. A spectacle he would not have been at all upset about having to witness, he thought, but unfortunately the opportunity had not presented itself.

The clerk did his thing with the formal charge of shoplifting and she pled guilty to two counts, one of theft of fresh fruit and one of milk and bread. 'Clearly not the work of a criminal mastermind here,' Charles thought as the prosecutor described her entry into the two shops, selection and concealment of the goods and her ultimate arrest.

She didn't have a defence lawyer, so Charles addressed her directly. "Miss Coburn, I believe we have met before?" he asked, looking down at her, standing in the box.

"Yes sir," she said, making it one word as was common in prisons and he suspected a habit she had picked up.

"Looking at your record, you are certainly not inexperienced in what is about to happen. By rights, I should be sending you to a short stay prison facility, but I can't see how that will help," he said. His tone was almost despairing. "I'm fairly convinced I said that to you last time and instead you received fifty lashes to your breasts, is that right?" he asked, knowing the answer already as the information was there on his screen.

"Yes sir," she said again, keeping her eyes cast to the floor.

"That wasn't that long ago, are the lashes even healed yet? he asked.

She began to unbuttoned her shirt to show him, in resigned compliance. "Nearly Sir," she said.

He cleared his throat loudly, "Thank you Miss Coburn, that won't be necessary," he said, stopping her stripping in open court.

He mused what to do. He hated situations like this. "Is there anything you want to tell me about this latest offending?" he asked her, willing her to give him something to work with, anything to avoid jail or more pain for her. He could tell she was desperate.

"My family needed the food. Our child benefit wasn't paid, there was some confusion at the office. It's been straightened out now, but right then, they needed to eat," she explained.