A Shocing Judicial Punishment

Even though I stood before the judge knowing the sentence that was to be given to me, it was still shocking to hear the words. As the judge announced the sentence, I felt my knees buckle and my stomach turn.

"Janine Jennings you have been sentenced to 90 minutes of electrotherapy to be applied as determined by the detention center. You are to report to the center one week from today"

I felt the tears coming to my eyes. I wanted to run from the courtroom and throw up. it was all too real. Then my self-pity was interrupted by the prosecutor who was suddenly standing and speaking before the judge.

"Your Honor as Ms. Jennings is a flight risk we ask that she be collared until her punishment. We cannot know where she might end up a week from now."

My eyes widened as I looked at my court-appointed attorney. I shook my head. No, no, this cannot be happening. I started to talk. I wanted the judge to know that I wasn't going anywhere. My attorney stopped me and tried to argue on my behalf but it did no good.

"Ms. Jennings will be placed in a judicial collar immediately and will wear said collar until the time of her punishment." She lifted her gavel and with a loud bang brought it down to her desk, signaling the end of the case.

I had seen the wide stainless steel judicial collars many times. People who wore them never looked happy. Aside from looking quite uncomfortable, the collar was a public sign that the person had done something wrong and was going to be punished for their misdeed. The thought of having to wear a collar like this for a whole week was horrifying.

I looked over at the prosecutor who was quietly packing away her papers. Why did she do this to me? I had admitted my guilt and accepted my punishment. Why did she have to pile on? She looked up at me, acknowledging my stare, smiled, and said, "Have a good day now!"

I give my attorney credit. He saw what was coming and grabbed me by the arm, pulling me back and saving me from a further assault charge. If I wasn't so angry I would have thanked him.

Suddenly an officer was in front of me. He explained that they had to take me downstairs for collaring and that I had to be handcuffed for transport. Transport? He is taking me down the fucking stairs. Come on. I was too tired to argue and put my hands in front of me. He grabbed me gently by the shoulders and turned me around where he locked my hands behind my back.

I had never been handcuffed before and let me tell you, it is a helpless feeling. You don't realize how much you use your arms and hands. Suddenly I was off balance and was glad that the officer was holding my arm. I was also defenseless with limited ability to protect the rest of my body. The officer was totally in control of me.

I was removed from the courtroom and brought downstairs to a grey room with lots of chairs. As he attached my cuffs to the back of one of the chairs the officer said "Sit and wait," then walked away.

Well, what else could I do? I couldn't stand up. I couldn't leave. I sat and I waited....for a long time.

I watch as others came and went. Some were locked down like me and others were free to roam about the little room. Finally, someone came for me.

"Janine?"

I nodded, too scared to speak.

"Hi, I'm Sandra. I'm going to take care of you today." Looking at her clipboard, she added. "This is your first time here, right?"

Again I nodded.

"OK let's get you unhooked from those cuffs and get this over with." She reached behind me and removed my handcuffs leaving them dangling from the chair.

"Come with me," she said in a friendly voice. After stretching my newly freed arms, I stood and followed as Sandra led me through the door and down a long hallway. I was surprised that she was letting me walk freely after all the security to get me downstairs.

"I can't believe they cuffed you to the chair," she said half to herself. "Those guys just love putting handcuffs on women."

I finally found my voice. "Thank you for letting me out of them."

"No problem. It's not like you can go anywhere. All the doors are locked. Turn here into this room on the left."

She opened the door for me and led me into a little room that looked like a doctor's office. "Hop up on the bench and we'll get started."

I liked Sandra even if she was going to do something horrible to me. She was about my age and was someone with whom I could be friends.

Sandra took out a measuring tape and measured around my neck and from my collar bone to the back of my jaw. She jotted down some notes on her clipboard and said, "Stay right here I'll be back." Then added, "Of course, you will stay here, the doors are all locked, right?" I heard her giggling as she closed the door behind her.

Once again I was left to wait. This time the wait wasn't long. In just a few minutes Sandra returned with the collar in hand. My body stiffened at the sight of the shiny circular piece of metal. I could almost feel it around my throat choking me. I started to hyperventilate.

"N-no, please. Do we have to do this?"

"Oh don't worry, Janine," Sandra said as if she was talking to a little girl. "It will be fine and it's only..." She stopped and checked her clipboard. It's only for a week. It will be off in no time!"

My week ahead suddenly came into view. Days at work, commuting, and being with my friends on the weekend. It was all so embarrassing.

"Look at it this way," Sandra continued, "It won't be as bad as your punishment and it will all be over soon. In the old days, you would spend nine to twelve months in prison and probably lose your job. This whole thing will be over in a week."

I hadn't thought about the punishment since the whole collar thing got added. Now I was scared about that as well. Tears were pouring out and I could feel my makeup turning into brown rivers on my cheeks.

"Aww come on baby. Don't cry. Let's just get this thing on and get you home."

With that Sandra opened the collar so that it looked like two small humps. She gently pressed one of the humps around the back of my neck and pulled the other around in front and gave it a little push. I jumped at the sound of the interior lock closing around my neck. My hands immediately went up and felt the smooth stainless steel that was now locked onto me.

The first thing that I noticed was that it was wide. I couldn't put my head down without feeling it push uncomfortably into my collarbone. The second thing was that it was tight. Not too tight to breathe but tight enough that it was pressed against my skin. Instinctively I pushed my fingers between the collar and my neck to see if I could give myself some space.

"I know. it feels tight at first but you'll get used to it."

"Have you ever worn one?"

"Me? Oh no! I would never be in that position!"

It wasn't until I stood that I felt the third bad thing about this collar. It was heavy! I don't know how much it weighed but I felt like I was ten pounds heavier than I was when I walked into the room. My shoulders sagged and my knees buckled under the new weight I was carrying.

I'm not a bodybuilder, but I do try to keep in shape. However, even my regular workouts prepared me for this.

After some final comments from Sandra, I was released. I had received instructions not to leave the county and that the GPS in the collar would alert the authorities if I did. I certainly wasn't planning on going anywhere with this thing anyway.

Out on the street, I suddenly felt like a tagged criminal. And that everyone was staring at me. I had been advised to wear a nice dress to court so that the judge would see me as a young and pretty professional woman who shouldn't be treated too harshly. Sadly I had picked a dress that was a bit low cut thinking that I might be able to use my perky boobs to my advantage. It didn't work and now my low-cut dress only accentuated the shiny large collar around my neck. What would I give for a turtle neck sweater right now?

By the time I got home, I was exhausted. The day had gone much worse than I had expected. I had known that it was going to be a bad day and it certainly was.

Up next: Chapter 2 - A Humiliating Week