(WFTV.COM) 25 March 2008:

Detectives said 24-year-old Shawanda Butler of Ocala went to Little Angels Adoption Agency in Sebring, Fla. in November 2007 claiming she was three months pregnant and wanted to give up the baby for adoption. The agency then began providing assistance to Butler for such things as medical bills, rent, clothing and groceries.

According to investigators, the adoption agency sent an agent to Butler’s home in February to confirm the pregnancy, but Butler refused to get up from her couch or show her stomach. The agency representative said Butler then went into a bedroom where the agent saw her put a pillow under her shirt.

The adoption agency then contacted authorities who arrested Butler on Tuesday on claims she defrauded the agency of $5,000. She is being held at the Marion County jail.

(MSNBC) 6 March 2008:

A woman who called in a bomb threat to an airport in an attempt to break up with her boyfriend will spend two years in jail and pay almost $20,000 in restitution. She called the airport saying there was a bomb on the flight her boyfriend was on. She thought that when he found out she made the calls, he would break up with her. Mission accomplished.

(CAPE TIMES) 23 January 2008:

A Washington state man has been charged with theft and burglary of over 1000 pairs of panties, bras, and other womens’ undergarments stolen from laundry rooms all over town. He plead guilty and was sentenced to 45 days in jail. Many of the pilfered panties were found in his home.

(THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD) 6 December 2007:

Traci Rhode spent two days in jail and will pay $10,000 for the crime of murder.

The jury that convicted the Fort Madison, Iowa, native of killing her husband in their Brownsville home four years ago also set her free Thursday, to the delight of her lawyer and the dismay of local prosecutors.  Ms. Rhode’s lawyers asserted that her husband died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound while she was out jogging.

District Attorney Armando Villalobos was distraught after it was announced that the convicted killer would walk.

“We are obviously disappointed by the fact that a convicted murderer will be among us,” said Villalobos, whose office recommended 60 years in prison for Rhode.

Villalobos pointed out that people convicted of “lesser” crimes, such as theft or robbery, often serve harsher sentences.

(ST CLOUD TIMES) 27 October 2007:

We usually think that increasing racial equality is a pretty good idea. We’re also pretty sold on the idea that increasing equality between men and women across society is a good idea too.

However, while this might apply to incomes, life spans, and leisure time, there’s one area where it really isn’t such good news. The increasing number of women going to jail. Some county jails are seeing increases of between 30 and 43 percent over the past five years.

(REUTERS) 2 March 2007:

Isn’t that what mom always says to a naughty child? With grown men other techniques might need to be used.  Fred Gregor, in Berlin, Germany, was protesting against his 15 month jail sentence for fraud and demanding a new trial, by squatting in a tiny homemade cubicle atop a TV antena 75 feet up in the air.  His wife at first supported him but after ten days decided enough was enough and that Gregor should come down. The former stripper and mother of their five children convinced him to return to earth by sending up to him, in his lunchbox, a topless photo of herself.

(REUTERS) 26 February 2007:

Mexico has just passed two interesting new laws designed to protect women from abusive husbands. From now on, husbands who constantly suspect their wives of infidelity or try to control the way they dress will be guilty of the crime of jealousy. If they stop talking to their wives, or deny them sex, then that is the crime of indifference. Upon conviction for either one men could face up to five years in jail.

The Special Prosecutor, Perez Duarte, says that “indifference, lack of love, and jealousy” are crimes that need to be punished.

It’s an interesting move, certainly, but haven’t they just abolished marriage?

(CNN.COM) 12 October 2006:

A Columbus Ohio man who couldn’t find steady work came up with a plan to make it through the next few years until he could collect Social Security: He robbed a bank, then handed the money to a guard and waited for police.

Timothy J. Bowers said he had been able to find only odd jobs after the drug wholesaler he made deliveries for closed in 2003. He walked to a bank and handed a teller a note demanding cash in an envelope. The teller gave him four $20 bills and pushed a silent alarm.

Bowers pleaded guilty to robbery, and a court-ordered psychological exam found him competent.  He told a judge a three-year prison sentence would suit him, and the judge obliged.