There's a saying in law enforcement that if you're going to do the crime, be prepared to do the time.
But for Judge Ted Poe, doing time isn't always enough. Since taking the bench in Houston's Felony Criminal Court in 1981, Poe has made headlines for the creative, and sometimes controversial, sentences he has handed down to criminals.
Poe presented the keynote address — appropriately titled "Poetic Justice" — at the 13th annual Utah Gang Conference at the Salt Palace, which wrapped up Friday afternoon.
One of the most effective means he has found to punish criminals, and in some cases deter future crimes, is a method he calls "public punishment" — using embarrassment. For example:
In one case, a man was convicted of killing two parents and seriously injuring their two children while driving drunk. As part of the man's sentence, he was ordered to keep a picture of the victims in his prison cell.
The idea was met with resistance at first by some prison officials. Now Poe said he does it in every drunken-driving case.
Similarly, Poe ordered a 19-year-old man who killed two adults in a drunken driving accident to carry a photo of the victims in his wallet for the next 10 years.
Then there's the case of a man who was convicted of stealing an elderly woman's car and causing significant damage to it. When the car was recovered, it needed four to five weeks worth of work before it could run again, Poe said. So as part of the punishment, the man was forced to hand over his car keys until the woman's car was out of the shop.
His car was a Trans Am.
Poe said the woman later mentioned that those few weeks were the most fun she had driving around town in her life.
One of the most common phrases Poe hears in his courtroom from defendants talking to their attorneys is, "Can he do that?"
To Poe, that's music to his ears.
And one shoplifter was forced to carry a sign in front of the store he robbed that read, "I stole from this store. Don't be a thief or this could be you."
The store reported it had zero thefts during the week he walked in front of the building with the sign.
While the United States does a good job of taking care of "international gangsters," Poe said, more attention needs to be given to those who "terrorize us locally," and that's one of his goals.
While Poe's sentences have come into question by some, others have praised his efforts and even copied them, including judges in Utah.
In 1995, a 5th District judge ordered three defendants to post signs on their homes advertising their crimes. One man was also ordered to write a letter of apology to the family he victimized and have it published in the paper. The judge said he got the idea from Poe.
In another case, Poe sentenced a man who pleaded guilty to beating his wife to make a public apology on the steps of city hall at high noon. Poe invited the media and members of several domestic violence rights groups to also attend.
One of Poe's most memorable cases, and one of his earliest, was when his childhood hero, TV's Lone Ranger, ended up in his courtroom.
In 1986, a man was convicted of stealing Clayton Moore's chrome-plated, twin Colt .45-caliber revolvers at Houston Intercontinental Airport. Poe had grown up watching Moore portray the Lone Ranger every Saturday morning on television.
Poe even allowed Moore to wear his Lone Ranger outfit in his courtroom — a move the defense objected to, fearing it would unfairly influence the jury. The defense asked that Moore be forced to take off his mask.
Poe replied that he wasn't about to be the first person to take off the Lone Ranger's mask.
The man, a baggage handler, was convicted and sentenced to 600 hours of service — cleaning the stables of the Houston Police Department's Mounted Patrol Division.
Poe encouraged officers at the gang conference to go the extra mile to help victims of crimes because one person can make a difference.
"A few people can change the world," he said. "That's the only way the world has ever changed."
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com