My little brother just got busted for smoking pot. Help me deal with a text message that just came in on his phone. [more inside]
posted by wandering steve on Sep 12, 2008 - 25 answers

Do all misdemeanor cases get to bypass the grand jury? Is there such a thing as a federal misdemeanor? I know FEDERAL capital offenses must go before a grand jury and each STATE handles this differently, ie NY both sides and a judge, no grand jury. But I am confused on this process...help, test tommorrow!!
posted by madmamasmith on Apr 16, 2008 - 5 answers

My 7 month old cat won't stop knocking over flower vases when we're out of the house. How can I get him to understand that knocking stuff over is bad? [more inside]
posted by RobertFrost on Mar 25, 2008 - 28 answers

What can I do to make laser hair removal treatments more tolerable? [more inside]
posted by iamkimiam on Jul 17, 2007 - 18 answers

I am looking for punishment suggestions for a group of procrastinators. [more inside]
posted by user92371 on Feb 25, 2007 - 24 answers

I need help coming up with a creative punishment for my teenage son. [more inside]
posted by msali on Feb 23, 2007 - 69 answers

Help me compile a list of punishments for 1st-4th Grade. [more inside]
posted by Izzmeister on Feb 14, 2007 - 28 answers

IRS-filter: I need a good tax lawyer in San Francisco. [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Nov 21, 2006 - 2 answers

Do schools still make children write the same sentence over and over again as a form of punishment (ala Bart Simpson in the opening credits)? [more inside]
posted by c:\awesome on Jun 30, 2006 - 35 answers

Sometime, say within the last 4 years, I read an editorial which answered the question of what accepted practice of our society would be viewed by future generations as morally reprehensible. The editorializer (who I believe was a person of some note) proposed incarceration as punishment for crime as an answer. Does anybody know who this was or where it appeared? [more inside]
posted by cosmonaught on Mar 5, 2005 - 3 answers

My husband is going to court in Atlanta/Fulton County next week for a speeding ticket. He has an unpaid speeding ticket in another state from two years back, but was able to renew his license here without any problems at all. The primary reason he's going to the court date is because we can't afford to pay the fine before then and they don't accept payments the day of the court date without you appearing in court. I'm scared the judge will somehow see the unpaid speeding ticket and my husband will immediately be thrown in jail. What is the likelihood of this happening? Am I being irrational?
posted by anonymous on Nov 9, 2004 - 12 answers

When I was little, my parents used to tell me that "in the olden days," many parents would spank their kids once a week, even though their kids hadn't been naughty. The spanking was supposedly preventative ("you'll get worse than THIS if you misbehave") or predictive ("I don't know WHAT you've done, but I'm sure you've done SOMETHING -- or you WILL do something...")

My question is: is this true? I mean, I know there are (and have been) all sorts of whack-o parents, but was there ever a general philosophy of parenting that advocated weekly spankings? My parents usually brought this up in the context of "you think YOU have it bad, well..." Were they yanking my chain? Is this an urban legend?
posted by grumblebee on Aug 23, 2004 - 18 answers