Default Sidebar

[LesMTS]

SHERMAN, Texas (AP) - A state district judge has ordered a 17-year-old drug offender barred from sex as a condition of her probation. Judge Lauri Blake made the ruling that bars the girl from having sex as long as she is living with her parents and attending school.

It is one of several unorthodox rulings Blake has imposed since she was elected 10 months ago in the 336th District Court covering Fannin and Grayson counties.

She has also prohibited tattoos, body piercings, earrings and clothing "associated with the drug culture" for those on probation.

Blake also enforces rules on the lawyers in her courtroom including a ban on sleeveless shirts and cleavage.

"It used to be like a circus, lawyers milling around," said Fannin County District Attorney Richard Glaser. "She makes them sit and come up one at a time."

Glaser is investigating the complaint of a lawyer who was briefly ordered into a holding cell because of his manners.

If lawyers are discontent, none has approached her about it, Blake said in a brief telephone conversation. Last week, she agreed to an interview but later declined through her court coordinator.

Others wonder how she can enforce some of her conditions, such as the sex ban.

Fred Moss, a Southern Methodist University professor and former federal prosecutor, said being on probation entitles a judge to restrict one's freedom.

"Some conditions could be viewed as too draconian and violate someone's personal dignity," he said. "I'm not sure where the parameters are these days."

Steve Blackburn, a lawyer involved with the Dallas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said defendants who don't like their probation conditions can reject them and go to jail. On the other hand, conditions that violate someone's constitutional rights are best avoided, he said.

"The idea is that you can't ever ask somebody to give up certain rights," he said.