Judicial Punishment Lottery

The officers shoved the woman into a chair and pinned her there. Her eyes bulged in frustrated fury, but her anger was no match for the restraints that rendered her helpless. The female officer stood up and stretched her back with a groan while the male kept the young woman pinned with both hands holding her in place.

"Holy fuck, I'm getting too old for this. You got her George?"

The male nodded, "Yea, you take a minute."

The female officer looked around at the others in the corridor, she was breathing heavily and sweat dripped from her brow, "Hey guys, looks like you two lucked out again, why do I always get the nutter?"

Karen nodded to her, "Want me to spell you for a bit? You can go get a drink of water or something and I'll help George."

"You sure? I could use it; we've been fighting with her for more than half an hour and I'm fucked. George, want me to bring you some water back?"

George nodded, "Please."

Karen walked across, pulling black gloves from her belt as she did so and pushing her hands into them. "Okay, go take five, when you get back, we can spell George."

Thanks, Karen."

As she moved away the male officer watching Femi moved so he was standing between both Femi and Shona, and within reach of both of them.

Femi was staring at the struggling woman, eyes wide with horrified fascination, but Shona had seen drug addicts many times and shook her head sadly.

Mary had slumped in the chair seemingly exhausted, and Karen spoke to her, not gently as such, but quietly at least.

"Mary, I'd like to stand you up and try and get your trousers up. That means getting these straps off for a minute. Once I pull your trousers up, they'll go back on, but at least you'll be a bit more comfortable. Will you let me do that?"

The small woman mumbled angrily but nodded.

Karen looked at her, "I want to help you Mary, but you know if you kick-off, you're going to end up face down on the floor wrapped up like a Christmas turkey. Will you behave?"

The small woman nodded.

"Okay George let's get her up, you hold her, and I'll do the straps."

"Right but be careful."

Shona watched in fascination as the two officers eased the woman into a standing position, George moved her, so she was facing back along the corridor while Karen lowered herself carefully onto her haunches behind her and undid the Velcro straps around her knees while watching the woman carefully for signs of another outburst. When none came, she tugged the young woman's bottoms back up around her waist and carefully reapplied the restraints around her knees. Both officers then eased the woman back into the chair.

"That better?"

Mary mumbled and nodded.

Karen turned to George, "She been spitting?"

"I dunno, she was wearing that thing when she arrived, so maybe she had a go at the arresting officers.

"Mary, if I take this thing off do you promise not to scream the place down? I've got a raging headache; you'll do my head in and we'll just have to put it back."

The small custody nodded angrily.

Karen carefully removed the gag and stepped back as the woman worked her tongue around her mouth. "If you stay calm, I can get you some water in a bit, okay?"

"Cheers, that bastard thing tasted like somebody's rubbed their cock on it or something."

"What's got you so worked up today Mary?"

The woman almost screamed, "You know what! You bastards are gonna rip my arse off wi that fucking cane again! Then I'm going down and they'll do it to me again every fucking day!"

Tears wet the woman's face and she rocked back and forth on her chair in helpless misery.

Karen stood and blew out a breath and Shona could see that while she hid it well, she was clearly upset.

George gave her a thoughtful look, "You go back to your custody Karen, now you got her calmed down a bit I'll be fine," he looked down at the miserable wretch in the chair in front of him, "hey Mary, once my colleague comes back I'll get you some water okay."

Karen moved back to Shona and looked down in surprise when the nurse touched her sleeve, "You did what you could Karen, you gave her a little dignity at least and that's not nothing."

"I sometimes just wish I could do something more. She's like twenty-odd years old, she probably won't see thirty and there's not a fucking thing I can do about it."

She looked down at the nurse, "You ever wish we could go back in time and just never see the things we've seen?"

"All the time."

Shona changed the subject, "Your gloves look weird."

"It's Kevlar, anti-knife and anti-bite etc."

"Can I ask why they're wearing all that gear and you're not?"

"The armour? We all have it, but they got kitted up when we heard Mary was coming in."

"I bet I'd look like something out of Star Wars in all that stuff."

Karen gave her a grin, "You saying you're a little short for a Storm Trooper?"

Shona groaned and shook her head.

The red-headed officer came back holding a couple of Styrofoam cups. She passed one to George and looked down at Mary, "I've got some water here, I'm not undoing the cuffs but I can hold the cup so you can drink, you want it."

"Aye, please."

The officer held the cup to the woman's lips and Mary slurped at it.

"Go easy, I can get you some more in a bit if you want."

Mary drank the water and sank back into the chair with a sigh, "Thanks."

The nurse leaned forward and whispered, "Karen?"

"Huh?

Looking nervously about she continued to whisper, "When you got caught speeding did you... get it?"

The officer chuckled darkly, "Oh yea, and then some."

"How come they don't know?"

"Most of them probably do, but officer records are sealed, you need to be a certain rank and have a legitimate reason to open them, plus you get dealt with at a non-local site, so cos I worked here, I had to go to a correction building in another city."

"Was it hard? Sorry, I shouldn't pry."

"Can't really blame you given where you're sitting, but yea, you're meant to set an example, so they go harder on you."

"What happened?"

"See Femi over there? She got three points and a fine for her first speeding ticket yea? Well, that was my first ticket, and I got the same three points etc, plus six with a cane. No public shaming though, it wouldn't be appropriate given the job."

"So you've been where I am."

"Yup."

"Maybe that's why."

"Why what?"

"Why the empathy," she shook her head, "No, I don't think so, might be part of it but I think you're just a decent human being."

"We'll see if you feel the same in a few hours," Karen sighed, "sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"It's okay."

Karen checked her watch, "Not long now, just waiting for the last custody and we're set."

Femi started whimpering, Shona looked across at her and couldn't help but feel sympathy for the woman, "Hey Femi, tell me about your kids, how old are they?"

The weeping woman looked up and smiled, "I've got three, there's Sam, he's 13 now, then Delroy, he's 10, and my youngest is Abigay, she's 8."

"Must be a handful, two boys?

"No, they do well in school, play football. It's Abigay who's the handful, she's a tomboy, just wants to be like her brothers I suppose."

As they spoke the last custody was escorted along the corridor and placed in a seat. He was a young man, he looked about twenty years of age, with a lean build and short brown hair. He had wispy stubble on his chin and a sullen angry expression on his face. He clearly did not like being held by the Corrections Officer but other than a swagger he made no show of resistance. He looked over the other custodies and turned away with a sneer.

Karen looked across at the escort, "What you got?"

The young man immediately looked up at her, "None of your fucking business pig."

The escort just shrugged in resignation, "Hey Milton. Yea this charmer is Ian Kilroy, Breach of the Peace, Vandalism and Resist Arrest, he's been like this since he came in, but he'll learn. He's only just turned eighteen, so this is his first time being dealt with as an adult."

"Fuck you."

His escort grinned at Karen and tapped a few keys on the tablet he had, "I just added two strokes for calling you a pig and another two for profanity, that's on top of the, oh I think it was six he accumulated at the booking in desk and medical for non-compliance. Not sure he realises what that means yet, but he will soon enough."

"I'm not scared of you cunts."

Another tap on the tablet and the escort looked at the young man as if he was some kind of strange idiotic life-form, "You know pal, I can just keep adding shit to your punishment, pretty much all day, I won't run out of numbers any time soon."

"So?"

"Well, you were down for three dozen with the strap across your back and six hours in the stocks or pillory. Since you got here you've managed to add a dozen strokes with a cane to your backside, thighs or feet, and you still won't shut up. You can't win this, it's pointless. So, you can keep this up and we just keep adding stuff and sooner or later, when you step out that door, you'll learn what that means. It's not like we've not heard this before, like a million times."

He turned to Karen, "Hey Milton, how many times have you been called a pig?"

"Huh? Did he call me that? I wasn't listening."

The young man snarled, "Bitch!"

Tap tap tap went the keyboard.

Part 2: Punishment

A chime sounded and the officer by the door looked up. "Okay, we're about to proceed out to the punishment area! There will be a lot of noise, don't let it startle you. Obey the instructions of the corrections officers escorting you. Failure to comply will result in pain compliance being administered. We will walk you to the apparatus, and when instructed you will strip. Try to ignore the crowd, they will shout, they will try to goad you or upset you. Don't let them, they just want to provoke a reaction. In a few hours, this will be over and done with."

Karen looked down at Shona, "You ready?"

"No. Look, whatever happens out there, thanks for not being horrible."

"My pleasure. Think on what I said about applying. I'm sorry but I need to put the handcuffs back on for this bit"

Shoa held out her hands with a small, quivering smile, "It's okay."

The door opened.

Along with the other custodies Shona was led out into the open air, the sun was bright but there was a chill in the air and the promise of rain later in the evening.

They were led up a ramp onto a large platform where all the stocks, pillories, benches and other apparatus had been set up.

In front of her, the corrections officer had to pull Femi along, the poor woman was weeping and sobbing and while she was offering no active resistance she kept pausing in fear. She could hear the corrections officer talking to her, trying to reassure her and keep her calm as he ushered her up the ramp.

Shona was trembling but forced herself to walk. Beside her officer Milton kept talking, "It's going to be okay, you'll be fine, just keep going and this will be done with soon enough and you can go home okay."

Behind her, Mary had already started to struggle and was being physically dragged up the ramp by her two escorts.

The young man called Ian held his head up and glared as he swaggered along.

The stocks and pillories were modern-looking frames constructed from lengths of metal tubing and plastic sections, some covered in a layer of rubberised foam. There were various shackles dangling from some of the sections. From the look of some of the wires and tubes attached to the frames, it appeared they contained electrical or hydraulic motors that could be used to manoeuvre them or change the configuration and shape of the frame.

In front of the platform a crowd of about sixty to a hundred people, mostly men, had gathered, some cheered, or jeered, there was a spattering of applause, a few shouted insults and the occasional lewd comment, aimed at both the custodies and their escorts. Shona looked over their heads and did her best to ignore them. Femi quailed and had to be held in place, Mary screamed insults as she struggled uselessly, and Ian spat on the floor and grinned as he saw a group of his mates at the back cheering him on.

A corrections officer activated a microphone and addressed the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for attending this correctional procedure. For the good of the state and the maintenance and general well-being of society, all sentences will be carried out as per stature and in accordance with lawful procedure. As usual, any unlawful interference or obstruction of these procedures by any person will be actionable and may render those responsible liable to prosecution. Thank you."

The overhead screen quartered, and Shona saw her image, and the images of the other custodies being displayed along with their names and ages, it looked like it was from the earlier photograph, but cropped so only the faces of the custodies showed and she gave a sigh of relief.

Beside her, Karen whispered, "He'll introduce each of you to the crowd and when he does, you'll have to strip, then one of the punishment detail will secure you to the pillory. Try to stay calm. Looks like the crowd will be distracted with Mary for a while, poor bugger."

"Will you be staying with me?"

"For some of it, but I'll get relieved during at least part of the shaming period, but I'll be back by the end to escort you back inside."

The corrections officer gave the woman a sideways glance, "Look, I should warn you, these silly buggers that come up here to carry out the punishments will probably all give you good grope."

"What!"

"Yea, they're allowed to touch you to make sure your 'in position' and 'sited correctly' or some other bollocks, but basically, they use it as an excuse to cop a feel of your bum. They can't do anything else, they can't finger you or touch your vagina or anything else and if they try it, they'll get their heads handed to them, so just don't react to it and they'll eventually fuck off. None of us likes it, it's not professional as far as we're concerned. But we're obliged to let it slide. So just ignore them as best you can. Even if I'm not here any one of us will come down on the bastards like a ton of bricks if they try anything okay. I know it's shitty, and that's a small consolation, but it's the best we can do I'm ashamed to say."

Shona looked at the floor and muttered, "Oh for fuck's sake."

"I know, think how I felt, I wanted to murder them all. Just don't let them get to you okay."

"Karen?"

"Yea?"

"I'm glad you're here, and I'm glad you went through it. I'm sorry you got hurt, I don't mean it like that, but it makes me feel better knowing that you know what this is like."

"Yea well, into every life a little rain must fall," she grinned, "I just wish it would stop pissing in mine."

"Hey, we're having Chinese and wine day after tomorrow. Wanna come?"

"Are you serious? I'm about to help four dipshits torture you and you're asking me out?"

"I'm not asking you out. I'm saying me and my mates are having a 'girl's night' the day after tomorrow. If it wasn't for you, I'd literally be a gibbering wreck by now. Now I might start calling you a bitch or whatever in a few minutes depending on what happens, but you're still welcome."

"I can't. Well, I can't accept anything from a custody, including invites to a girl's night out, but if you still feel the same way you can ask again when it's done and you're a free woman. Besides, your pals will probably want to piss in my drink if I came anyway."

"I don't think so, maybe a little at first, but maybe not. They will be curious as hell though."

"Nurses, you're all mad. I really couldn't do your job."

The officer in charge of the punishment activated the microphone and addressed the crowd again, "Citizens, we have four accused persons who have been rightfully convicted and are now here before you to repay their debt to society in accordance with our judicial system."

He gestured and Femi was escorted to stand before one of the pillory frames.

"First is Femi Gilmore, speeding offence, exceeding the mandatory speed limit in contravention of Section 89, Road Traffic Act 1984, sentenced to twelve strokes with an approved strop on buttocks, followed by two hours of enforced contemplation."

He barely spared her a glance, "Escort, prepare the prisoner."

Femi was ushered to stand in front of one of the frames and her escort muttered something quietly to her. She was weeping openly and her hands shaking almost uncontrollably as she reached for the buttons of her blouse. By the time she had undone no more than two buttons, her hands shook so badly that her efforts were completely useless, and she tilted her head back and sobbed.

The escort gestured to another officer who joined him, this one held her by the arm and steadied her as the first quickly and efficiently removed her clothing. Shona looked on in horror, but at least Femi wasn't struggling so it looked like the officer was at least being fairly gentle, not pulling or tugging at the clothes, and he was talking to the distraught woman throughout. Within a minute the poor woman had been stripped completely.

Femi was tall, well built, with solid-looking thighs and wide hips. Her stomach bulged a little and showed a few of the stretch marks delivering three children might leave. She had generous breasts and she had a thick covering of hair on her vagina. She wailed in misery as she was ushered forward to step onto the pillory.

She bent over the bar situated at waist height in front of her and the officer helped her reach out and placed her hands on the handles situated on the frame before her. Then the shackles were fitted around her ankles and wrists, so she was secured in place. Once complete the officers stepped back and the escort announced, "Prisoner secure and prepared for punishment."

"Very good."

"The next custody is Shona Strachan, careless driving and causing injury to a child in contravention of Section 3, Road Traffic Act 1984, sentenced to a two-hour period of randomised lottery punishment," there was a cheer from the crowd and the officer frowned, "and four hours of mandatory contemplation, both punishments to be carried out concurrently."

He glanced at Shona, "escort, prepare the prisoner."

Karen looked at her as she undid the handcuffs, "Here we go. Just take off what I instruct, I'll be going top to bottom, and put the garments into the basket situated just to your side. Just look at me and keep calm. Start with the tracksuit jacket."

Shona drew a breath and stared at the corrections officer, fixing her gaze on the badge on her left breast as she slid the jacket off and dropped it in the basket.

"T-shirt next, keep staring at me, don't think about anything."

Some of the crowd were cheering as Shona drew the garment over her head. She had taken the advice and she shuddered as her breasts were exposed, she almost instinctively began to draw an arm up to cover herself.

"Keep looking at my badge, now kick off your shoes, leave them where they are don't bother bending to get them, I'll do that."

Tears ran down her face, but Shona nodded, "Thanks."

"Now just take off the bottoms and it's done. If you like you can drop them and step out, just push them towards the basket with your feet. We can sort that out in a sec."

Shona closed her eyes and drew a breath before opening them again and fixing her gaze on the officer's badge as she slipped the bottoms down and stepped out of them. Her lips began to quiver, and she balled her hands into fists as she fought to keep from breaking down completely.

Officer Milton took her arm and pointed at the frame, indicating a low step, the padded bar set at waist height and the two handles set into the frame in front of her, "Okay, move onto the step, lean across the bar and grab the handles in front of you. Then stay still.