9th Circ. Scarlet Letter Punishment Stands

On Monday the Supreme Court dismissed Shawn Gementera's appeal that his "scarlet letter" style punishment constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution and the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984.  He was convicted of stealing mail, and as a result, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco sentenced Gementera to stand outside a post office for 100 hours wearing a sandwich board that reads: "I have stolen mail. This is my punishment." He was also sentenced to serve two months in prison and three years of supervised release. The case is Gementera v. United States, 03-10103. Story here from Law.com. . . [Mark Godsey]