Judicial Punishment Lottery

Shona shambled forward and placed a foot on each of the painted footprints, they were about a yard apart and she felt awkwardly exposed standing in such a position.

"Okay, just stretch your arms out to your sides, I'll take the pictures myself."

Shona complied and a moment later there was a quick double flash of light.

"Good enough, now Shona you're going to have to turn round, open your eyes and face me so I can take the last two pictures. Just take a deep breath, hold it and do it."

She was still shaking, and it took almost all her willpower to comply, she had never felt so ashamed as she stood there lewdly showing off everything she had, tears fell from her face, and she blushed almost crimson. She had always been self-conscious of her body; she had been an early bloomer in school and the boys had teased her mercilessly about her breasts and even to this day she tended to wear modest swimming costumes and never went topless when on holiday, even when her friends had.

Officer Milton waited till she was in place and pushed the button on the camera tripod and it was done. "That's it all over, you can get dressed, well done."

The young woman managed to pick up her underwear from the table in trembling hands before she broke down sobbing.

"It's all a bit much isn't it? Take your time, we've got a few minutes spare."

"This is horrible!"

Officer Milton sighed, "I think that's the point I'm afraid."

Shona wiped her face with her hands, drew in a breath and closed her eyes for a moment as she composed herself. She released the breath slowly before turning to face the corrections officer.

"Feel better?"

"A little."

"If I were you, I wouldn't bother with your underwear, the next stop is the nurse for your medical and you'll just have to take it all off again. Your tracksuit covers everything well enough, but it's up to you."

Shona hesitated, she had picked up her knickers and stared at them in her hands. She sighed, "It's all just going to come off again."

Dropping them back onto the table she pulled on her t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms. She left off her socks and slipped her bare feet into her trainers. Standing again she gave Officer Milton a small smile, "Don't think I've wandered about with no knickers on since my student days. It's a bit weird."

The officer grinned, "At least you've got underwear, you should see the state of some of our customers."

"I bet," Shona blushed and nibbled her lower lip, "can I ask you something?"

"Fire away."

"What's it like working here?"

The officer laughed, "Well some days it's just complete madhouse, but mostly it's okay. You need a certain mindset I think, not too soft, but not too hard either. It's well paid, you get good training and there are opportunities for advancement in rank. But you do sometimes have to use physical force on people and some folks can never get their heads around that. Come on, I'll talk as we walk. I still have to hold your arm though, but I won't put the cuffs back on as long as you behave, okay?"

"Sure, and, er, thanks for helping me there, I could never have got through that myself."

"That's okay Shona, so where were we? Yea, there's a lot of nudity. I mean I've seen more dicks than I ever wanted to and that's another thing that's pretty weird to start with, but after a while, it just fades into the background, and you get used to it."

"You must see some sights."

"Oh yeah, but you're a nurse, you must see some of it. Don't you work in A&E? That must be crazy sometimes"

Shona grinned, "I suppose. Er, do you do the hitting bits as well?"

Officer Milton laughed, "Well I've had to hit a few bits since I started working here but yea, it's part of your training and we have a rota, not really my cup of tea though, too much hard work. Keeps you fit I guess," she paused at a door marked 'MEDICAL', "okay, here we are."

Inside was a fairly comprehensive treatment and examination room and Shona's trained easily picked out the various diagnostic devices and equipment. A man in a typical medic's uniform looked up. He was maybe in his mid-thirties, with curly brown hair. "Hi, I'm Peter, who do we have here?"

"Hey Pete, this is Shona Strachan, she's already booked in so her details should be on the machine, she's here for her pre-correction medical."

He tapped a few keys on the computer and examined the screen, "Okay, got you. Right Shona come in and have a seat on the bed there. It says you're a nurse?"

"Yes."

"Then most of this will be old hat, maybe me and the officer there should just have a cuppa and let you do it yourself."

Shona grinned as officer Milton interjected, "Don't be a lazy sod Pete."

"She's a slave driver Shona, bullies me all the time."

"You wish."

"Shona, I'm going to be taking your blood pressure, measuring your heart rate etc, and for some of the procedures you're going to have to disrobe, now I can fiddle around the clothes for part of it, but in truth, it would be easier and faster if you removed your clothing now. It's up to you, but as I say it'll be coming off in a bit anyway."

Shona had known it was coming and for once understood its purpose, so it didn't seem quite so stressful, she glanced at Officer Milton, who shrugged apologetically, "Sorry Shona, I have to stay, it's for the protection of both of you."

Shona began slipping off her tracksuit, "Protection?"

"Believe it or not, some folks are not happy to be here. It's mostly to protect Pete from physical attack or malicious allegations, that sort of thing."

"Makes sense I suppose."

"Okay Shona, sit up on the bed for me please."

The medical was thorough but simple enough and Shona could have done most of it in her sleep.

Pete checked her blood pressure and heart rate and took a blood sample, he asked questions about allergies and asthma. "Okay, I see you are on birth control, but I have to ask, are you taking it regularly and as per prescription?"

"Yes."

"And when did you last engage in sexual activity?"

Shona blushed furiously, "You mean with a partner?"

Peter grinned, "Sorry I should have been more specific. Yes, I mean with a partner."

"Not for a while, maybe six months."

"Thanks, now Shona you're probably not going to like this bit, but it is necessary. What I need you to do is stand and bend forward across the bed. I'm going to run my hands across your buttock and I'm afraid I'll also be moving my hand between your legs, but only briefly and there's no penetration of any kind, it's not an internal exam."

"What!?"

"I'm looking for any fatty lumps or other types of subcutaneous blemishes on your buttocks that may rupture during punishment or cause you any danger. I'll be as quick as I can, but it's a necessary part of the procedure."

"But between my legs?"

"I need to check for any distended labia or any other relevant physical characteristic," he sighed apologetically, "you're going to be er, wriggling about a bit when the punishment starts, and we don't want any part of you struck other than what is mandated by the prescribed punishment and trust me if you get hit there by accident it won't be pleasant. I'm sorry, but it's for your protection."

Shona groaned but made herself move into position.

"Eek!"

"What?"

"Cold hands."

"Sorry, well 'cold hands warm heart they say', or so I hear."

Shona felt the medic run his hands carefully, but thoroughly across both buttocks. He was gentle but she still shuddered when one hand slid between her legs.

"Sorry, almost done."

She took a breath, "It's okay."

"There, all done. You can get dressed now. Do you need a drink of water or anything?"

"Please."

Officer Milton interjected, "I'd only take a sip Shona, four hours can be a long time I'm afraid."

Shona's hands shook, but she took the officer's advice and only sipped the water, "Okay, thanks."

The young nurse hesitated, "Can I ask something? I don't want to get in trouble"

"What is it?"

She blushed again, "Well, everyone's been so nice."

"Thanks."

"No, I mean, it's just not what I expected. I thought you'd be..."

Officer Milton laughed, "A bunch of sadistic Nazi's maybe?"

"Well, yes... I'm sorry."

"Oh, don't be, I thought the same when I joined, on my first day I kept expecting everyone to be a right bastard. I almost never applied because of it. But the truth is we can't afford it."

"Hmm?"

"Well vetting and training weeds out most of the idiots, and trust me we do get quite a few applying, it's that kind of job. But only a complete muppet starts off on the wrong foot. It's to our advantage to put our clients as much at ease as we can, it saves work, it's safer for everyone, and to be honest it's good for us."

"Good?"

"You have any nurses who've maybe been at it a bit too long, who don't seem to actually care about the suffering they see anymore, not because they're mean or anything, but maybe because they've just seen too much of it?"

Shona thought about it, "Yea, sometimes."

"Well, and I'm maybe being a bit of a fanny here, but maybe just being decent with folks might, I dunno, preserve our humanity just a bit longer."

Pete interjected, "Never anything wrong with being decent to folks Karen. Oh balls! I'm sorry."

The officer looked at him, "It's okay. I'd probably have told her my name if she asked anyway."

Karen turned back to Shona, "Look, unless you are some kind of habitual offender then this is probably going to be the worst day of your life, assuming it isn't already. There's nothing I can do about that. But there's no profit for me in making it any worse than it has to be, okay?"

Shona looked at her feet, "Thanks Karen, I'm glad it's you."

"No probs. We done here Pete?"

"Yup, good to go."

"Shona you can get dressed, it's up to you but I'd just leave off the underwear and socks, just stuff them into your pockets. It'll make it easier on the platform, trust me."

Karen turned to the medic,

"Oh Pete."

"What?"

Officer Milton smiled sweetly, "I just saw Mary being brought in, she's probably your next customer."

The medic groaned, "Aww for fucks sake!"

Officer Milton led Shona to a long corridor with a door at the far end. Along one wall was a row of widely spaced seats, all fixed to the floor. A corrections office stood at the door and a tall, middle-aged black woman was seated in one of the chairs. She looked like she'd been weeping and her clothes, what looked like the typical skirt and blouse you would wear to an office, looked a little dishevelled, as if she'd had to take them on and off again a few times perhaps.

The officer nodded casually to Officer Milton and his eyes scanned briefly over Shona.

The man looked back at Karen, "I hear Mary's coming in next. They might need a hand. When they get here do you want to watch these two or will I? Mine's been no problem at all."

Officer Milton seemed to consider, "How do you get on with Mary?"

"Oh, she hates my guts. I ended up caning her last time."

"Hmm, well I can sometimes get through to her, only sometimes mind. I'll go, you okay with that. Oh, this is Shona, she's cooperated fully and been no problem at all."

He glanced at her, "Hey Shona," before looking back at Karen, "yea, might be best if you go."

In the distance, the chaotic sounds of shouting and screaming grew louder.

Shona looked up at Officer Milton and whispered, "Who's Mary?"

Karen looked down at her, "She's a prostitute, drug addict, thief etc. She's one of our regulars and she always kicks off. Bit of a sad story, abusive parents, taken in by social services, bounced around from one children's home to another, got involved with drugs and from there to prostitution and theft to pay for her habit."

"That's pretty sad."

"Yup."

"What do you think will happen to her?"

Karen sighed sadly, "Oh, one day she'll OD and die I guess."

"I meant today?"

"Oh, no doubt she's here for shoplifting or something like that and she'll have resisted arrest, she usually does. With her record, I'm sad to say she'll probably have a pretty substantial sentence and then off to short-stay prison, probably for thirty days or thereabouts."

The other officer took a device like an I-pad from his belt, "Just a mo. Yea, found her, you pretty much nailed it on the nose, thirty with cane but only a one-hour public shaming. Hmm, why's that you think?"

"Can't leave someone standing for too long after a caning like that, she'll collapse, probably will anyway. Besides a public shaming won't do any good with her, she's too institutionalised. She get any time?"

"Yup, thirty days of 'correctional therapy' in a short-stay prison."

"Jesus."

Shona looked up, "What's that?"

The male officer simply said, "Horrible."

Karen shook her head sadly, "Thirty days of almost daily punishments, depending on her medical condition. Not something I would recommend. The only good thing is she'll be clean when she comes out, but it won't last, never does."

The officer looked at her, "She's already hardened by the system Shona. It won't change her one bit except to make her more desperate not to get caught next time. She already fights to get away, one day, if she gets desperate enough, she'll pull a knife or something."

"Is there nothing else that can be done?"

"No, there are a few places at specialist rehab units, but not many so they're usually at capacity. It's just the system, and sometimes the system sucks."

Shona noticed that Officer Milton had a sort of melancholy look on her face, "You okay Karen?"

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine, just thinking how many like Mary I've seen."

"Might be best not to dwell, from what I've seen you'll have done your best for them when you could."

Karen smiled, "Hey, look at you! Being all nursey and stuff. Ain't I supposed to be keeping you cheerful?"

"Well, you've managed so far, when I put my review on TripAdvisor I'll give you a special mention."

"Well, thanks."

Karen nodded to the black woman, "Who's this?"

"This is Femi Glenmore, she's here for a speeding ticket, got caught by the camera unit."

Femi looked up, her face was puffy and her eyes wet with tears. She looked completely miserable, "I promise, I'll never do it again."

The male officer sighed, "I'm sorry Femi, but it's the second time, you got a fine last time and three points I imagine?"

The woman sobbed but nodded.

"Then they've had to up the punishment."

Karen nodded at the tablet, "What she get?"

"It says she was twelve miles over the limit, so twelve with the strap and a four-hour public shaming. It could have been worse."

Femi groaned piteously.

Shona glanced up, "Karen?"

"Yes?"

"Can you maybe explain why I got that whole randomised thing?"

The woman considered, "Okay, it's just a guess mind so don't hold me to it. But the normal minimum for your kind of incident is like sixty with a cane or something, and that would totally suck."

"The judge mentioned something like that."

"Well, he was trying to do you a favour, I guess. Think of it as a points system of sorts, sixty with a cane is worth so many points. Now he can't just reduce the punishment too much because questions would be asked. So, he made it a public event, which ups the points, then he added the public shaming for more points, and he made it a randomised punishment whereby muppets from the crowd get to basically abuse you. So, more points. Once it adds up it's probably still short of the normal minimum but with your record and the other stuff, he could probably justify it more or less."

"So, he was trying to help me?"

"Pretty much," she grinned, "bet it doesn't feel that way right now though, but trust me, two sessions of thirty strokes with a cane is no laughing matter."

Is it bad, the cane I mean?"

"Oh it hurts, but the thing is after say a dozen strokes, you'll be miserable as hell, but it will all heal up eventually. But when it gets to thirty there's a chance of permanent scarring, probably not, but a definite chance. At sixty? Yea, you're going to carry those marks around for the rest of your days."

"I could get twenty-four though?"

"Yea, you could, but the odds are very much against it. Now the strap hurts a lot, but it tends to bruise as opposed to inflicting marks. Most folk buying tickets will be young men though, not all, but most. And quite frankly they'll probably want to spank you."

"Really?"

Karen grinned; "I'd put money on it that at least one of your punishments is going to be some young guy who wants to spank your bum cos he can't persuade his girlfriend to let him do it to her. Still embarrassing to be sure, but it probably won't even hurt that much."

The male officer laughed, "Just wiggle your bum a bit, make a few noises and try not to antagonise him, he'll probably be thanking you by the end of it."

Karen looked at him, "Is that the voice of experience I hear?"

"Hey, my lips are sealed, but if you want to go out for dinner some night maybe you can find out."

"Yea, you wish, besides aint you dating that bint from the court section?"

"She went back to her husband."

Shona couldn't help herself, "What?"

He grinned, "Hey, I didn't know she was married, I swear."

Karen laughed and looked at the black woman, "You okay there Femi? You're awful quiet."

"I'm sorry..."

The male officer rested his hand on her shoulder, "Hey, it's okay. Just think, once this is done you go home and it's all over. It won't even affect your car insurance, small consolation I know, but silver linings and all that."

The woman looked up with tear-filled eyes, "But my kids will know, the people from my work..."

Shona looked across at her, "The folks from my work know. They were very supportive, to be honest, and it's a funny thing, we never talk about this stuff, but I found out that more than one of them has gone through it. I bet at least one person you know has had this happen to them."

Karen looked at her, "Let's just put it this way, I've had a speeding ticket," she looked at her male colleague, "and I'm saying no more about it so don't ask."

He grinned, "I won't I promise, but you don't mind if I at least imagine."

Karen laughed, "You're a dick."

"No argument there."

Femi looked between the three of them, "Do you really think so?"

"I'm sure of it."

The woman still looked frightened, but she seemed to relax at least a little.

Karen looked at her custody with a thoughtful expression, "Hey Shona?"

"Yes?"

"You're quite good at this. Putting people at ease, and it can't be pleasant for you right now, it must be stressful?"

"Maybe I'm more used to stress than most I guess."

"Probably, but not quite what I meant. I was going to say that you could do well here, you know if you ever thought about applying. I'm only saying because we're actually critically short of medical technicians and nurses."

Shona laughed, "You're kidding! I'm about to get a hiding and you're trying to recruit me?"

Karen pursed her lips, "Hmm, it's not as crazy as it sounds. My understanding is that your incident is tragic, but not malicious, you've no other convictions, you're medically trained and experienced, and going through this might give you some insight. The pay's better than what you'll be getting now if nothing else."

The nurse looked up, "I'm not really in an ideal position to judge right now, but it's definitely not what I expected."

"Just think about it. If you want to come back in a few days I could maybe get you to speak to Pete, or whoever's here then, and maybe they could give you a better idea of what's involved."

"I'll think about..."

The conversation was interrupted by sounds of crashing and banging as well as grunts of effort and muffled sounds of rage as a young woman was dragged into view. She was a small, skinny thing, with a wild mane of uncombed dark hair, her eyes were sunken, and her skin had an unhealthy pallor. Two armoured corrections officers, a stocky older man and a woman with red hair, had a firm hold of her and her hands were cuffed behind her. The top half of a dirty shell suit hung off one shoulder while the bottom half was tangled around her ankles. The young woman was thrashing wildly but a rubberised anti-spit mouthpiece was fixed to her jaw, and it looked like it reduced her shrieking to loud, but incoherent mumbling. Straps of some black Velcro-like material had been wrapped around her knees reducing her ability to kick out and she was basically being dragged bodily along the corridor.