(upbeat music) - [Narrator] We all know the world can be a very unfair place. But for some people, life
can be downright unjust. I'm talking about the people sent to jail for charging their phones, fined hundreds of dollars
for feeding their families, and incarcerated for
sending friend requests. That's right, some things
you never even thought could be illegal can get you
slapped with a life sentence. Let's open our casebook and
find out how that's possible, as we look at some of
the harshest punishments doled out for the smallest of crimes. Court of convicts. (upbeat music) Oh, there's nothing worse
than when your phone starts ringing at the worst possible time. Usually, when that
happens, the embarrassment is all you have to deal with. But if you're in the wrong
place at the wrong time, the consequences could
be much, much worse... This is Judge Robert Restaino of Niagara Falls, New York. On March 11th, 2005, Judge Restaino was presiding over arraignments when a phone went off in his courtroom. (phone ringing) You never want to make a judge angry. And when he heard the ringtone,
Restaino became enraged. He warned the court that
if the owner of the phone didn't step forward, everybody present would go to jail for a week. There were 46 criminals
in court for that session. Although 45 had their
phones safely switched off, Restaino was willing to put
all their freedoms at risk. But nobody admitted that
the phone was theirs. Furious, the judge called
back the 11 defendants he had already released and carted all 46 of them off to jail. Those who couldn't afford their bail were then shackled, bused
to the county prison, and placed in cells. So, how did Judge Restaino get away with such an insane sentencing? Well luckily, this time
justice was served. Restaino was reported to the New York State
Commission on Judicial Conduct, and his excuse that his behavior was due to stresses in his personal
life wasn't enough to save him. He was fired from his job and severely reprimanded
for his abuse of power. And that wasn't the end for
Robert Restaino, however. Too dictatorial for the
bench, the former judge has since found a home in public office. That's right, Robert Restaino, the man who sent 46 people to jail because one of their phones went off, has been the Mayor of
Niagara Falls since 2020. Well, don't let anyone tell you there's no such thing as second chances. (air whooshing) Farting felon. You might not want to admit
it, but everybody's let out an embarrassing fart or
two in their lifetime. But did you ever think a
fart could get you arrested? No? Well, think again. On November 7th, 2009, a 12-year-old boy at school in Florida blew
his butt trumpet on purpose to disrupt the class. In addition to going around switching off other student's computers. You'd think something like that would just land you in detention, right? (boy farting) Well, not in Florida. The boy's teacher, one D.C.
Carden, called the police, and the kid was placed
under juvenile arrest for disruptive farting. How is that even legal? Well, Florida is one of
at least 21 US states that have school disturbance laws. These are legally enforceable penalties for misbehaving while at school. So the officers didn't
simply tell the boy off. They placed him under arrest. He was later released to his
mother with an affidavit. That's pretty unfair on
the kid, if you ask me. You'd think a student
could misbehave in school without being arrested,
but I suppose Florida has always done things differently. All I can say is that if
I'd been arrested every time I farted in public, I'd be
serving a life sentence. (air whooshing) Fishy fraud. Alongside baseball and
hanging out in diners, fishing is one of America's
favorite pastimes. But did you know in some places there are strict rules
surrounding the type of fish you can catch at certain times of year? I don't imagine you would, unless you're really into fishing. Well, if you weren't aware, neither was 19-year-old Kyle Dewitt
of Ionia, Michigan. Without a job, short on money, and with a hungry family to feed, Kyle set out one night in search of the rock and smallmouth bass living in the nearby Grand River. Unfortunately, it was
off-season and, you guessed it, illegal to catch bass
at that time of year. When confronted by an
officer, Kyle disputed this, but the officer persisted. Eventually Kyle accepted
a $115 fine and was told he would receive a letter
informing him how to pay it. But no such letter came. Worried, Kyle called the police station to ask where the letter
was and was informed that, after failing to pay the fine, a warrant had been issued for his arrest. You can understand how
that would be enough to frighten anyone so, unsure what to do, Kyle drove to the local jail
where he was put behind bars. Even though being short
on money was what got Kyle into all this trouble,
as a result of the arrest he was forced to borrow another
$175 required for his bail. At a court hearing the next week, the judge trumped Kyle's
original $115 fine up to $215. Not only that, but the judge also demanded Kyle pay it by the end of that same day. When he said he'd be unable
to get the money by then, the judge just asked Kyle if he had a credit card he could use. Remember, it was poverty that got Kyle into this situation in the first place. The poor kid didn't have a credit card. Unable to pay, Kyle was
sentenced to three days in jail. Thankfully, he was released
early after an intervention from the American Civil
Liberties Union of Michigan. Still, being sent to
jail for catching a fish? That's one harsh punishment. Speaking of harsh punishments, I'm about to hand out one of my own. I sentence you to like this video and subscribe to this channel. All done? Okay, you're forgiven. Who's next? (air whooshing) Sausage scandal. If there's anything more American than baseball, diners, and
fishing, it's hot dogs of course. Now don't worry, as far as I'm aware, no one has ever been arrested
for eating a hot dog. As for stealing one, well
that's a different story. In February 2014, Rickey Joe Moore entered a convenience store
to buy himself a drink. Or so you would have thought, if Rickey hadn't been caught on CCTV pulling out a hot dog from a rotisserie and stuffing it in his pocket. He paid for the drink but not the dog, which you'd think would get him a warning or a fine at best, right? Well, not in Indiana. In this state, taking
someone else's property with intent to prevent
them from ever being able to use it again isn't a
misdemeanor, but a felony. For those of us that don't speak law, because Rickey intended
to eat the hot dog, the crime is more serious. Rickey would have been okay if the hot dog theft
was his first offense. Sadly, however, he'd been
arrested two years earlier for stealing a microwave
and filing cabinet. Therefore, on a
technicality, Rickey was sent to the county jail with
his bond set at $4,000. I could understand that if he'd stolen something expensive, but a hot dog? Man, that's the wurst. (air whooshing) Pizza penalty. You know the three-strike
rule in baseball, where if a batter misses three balls and the catcher gets them, then the batter is struck out? Well, California loves this rule so much they enshrined it in state law. After the tragic death of
Kimber Reynolds in 1992, her father, Mike, was horrified when one of the men responsible, a career criminal on parole, was sentenced to only 9 years in prison. As a result, Mike Reynolds helped design California's Three Strikes law to prevent and discourage
repeat criminals. The law doubles the amount
of jail time for an offender if it's their second offense, and hands them a 25-year to life sentence if it's their third. So under the Three Strikes law, you could end up going to jail for some very minor mistakes. That fate befell Jerry Dewayne Williams in the March of 1995. Williams had prior convictions for at least four petty crimes. So under the Three Strikes law, all it took was one more offense
and a quarter of his life would play out behind prison walls. So, what did he do to earn
himself that life sentence? Well, Williams stole a slice of pizza. Yep, he was caught pinching
a slice of pepperoni pizza from a group of children on
the pier at Redondo Beach. So, yeah, it doesn't
sound like Jerry Williams is the nicest guy on the planet, but he is one of the few
people who can say that, on a technicality, they
are spending life in prison for stealing a single slice of pizza. But if you think this law
sounds unfair, you're not alone. While some, including
Mike Reynolds himself, continue to believe in
it, critics have argued it has minimal impact on deterring crime. Eventually the criticism
of the Three Strikes law led to it being substantially
amended in 2012. Now in order to class as a third strike, the crime committed must be a serious or violent felony. Whether you think it's fair or not, you can't deny that a life sentence for stealing pizza is
one harsh punishment. (air whooshing) Truant tax. Skipping school is a classic way to get yourself into trouble. But that doesn't mean truants deserve to go to jail, does it? Well, before 2015 you'd
have gotten a harsh answer if you asked the courts of Baytown, Texas. Frank Ward, a local resident of Baytown, was furious after two of his grandsons were put in jail for missing school. Texas upheld a law whereby
missing 10 or more days of classes over a six-month period, or three days in a four-week period, resulted in adult criminal
proceedings for adolescents. It was typically resolved with
a $500 fine plus court costs, but arrest warrants were
issued to those who refused to, or simply couldn't pay up. In the case of Frank Ward,
he argued that his grandsons could not get to school because
of a bad family situation that had resulted in them moving more than a dozen times in two years. The last move had left the grandsons 20 miles from their school which, combined with limited
public transport options, made their commute very difficult. One of Ward's grandsons,
who was 17 at the time, wound up in jail for failing to pay fines that had ballooned to $950. The other grandson owed
$360, but was not arrested. Grandpa Ward was forced
to use more than $1,399 of his Social Security
payment to cover the fines. But, quite understandably, was furious his grandchildren had
ended up in court at all. To put the Ward family's
struggles in context, a non-profit group found
that of the 115,000 students sent to court on truancy charges in 2013, a whopping 80% of them were
from low-income families. Fortunately that law
has now been reformed. But still, a jail sentence for truancy? Like school wasn't enough
of a prison already. (air whooshing) Charged for charging. Mobile phones have made their mark on every aspect of our society, and we've grown pretty dependent on them. Now there are plenty of things you can do with a mobile phone that could land you with jail time, but some of them are even more mundane than you'd ever expect. On November 13th, 2012, Darren Kersey, a 28-year-old homeless man from Florida was arrested by a Sarasota police sergeant for charging his cell phone. Kersey was simply using a
charging port in a public park, which, considering he was homeless, was an understandable
use of public resources. This was not the view of a
police sergeant, however, who described Kersey
charging his phone as theft while citing, bizarrely,
the bad state of the economy was the reason for the arrest. Kersey could not pay the $500
bail placed after the arrest and was forced to spend the night in jail. Thankfully a judge threw out the case, citing a lack of legal
justification for the arrest. At last, justice is done. If you ask me, it should
have been that police officer facing a $500 bail for
being criminally stupid. (air whooshing) The twilight zone. As you've probably noticed,
you can be unfairly arrested for doing some pretty embarrassing things. But if you thought there was
nothing more embarrassing than being arrested for
farting, let me introduce you to Lori Teel of Albuquerque, New Mexico. On June 12th, 2012, Lori Teel was arrested for not returning $36 worth of "Twilight" books and
DVDs to the library. That's right, "Twilight,"
the teen fiction saga that turned fearsome vampires
into sparkly disco boys and werewolves into guys that can fall in love with children. Oh my. The library claimed that
the "Twilight" materials had gone unreturned since 2010, leading them to file a
warrant for her arrest for failure to return rental
property less than $200. Yeah, that's a real low. So, why hadn't Lori returned them? Well, all the notifications
and arrest warrants had been sent to the wrong address, one she hadn't lived in
since she was a child. On that day, the police
arrived at Lori's home investigating an unrelated disturbance. Then they realized there
was an active warrant out for her arrest. So they took her into custody in front of her five children. She was released the next morning on a staggering $610 bond, and claimed she was planning
to file legal action. As for the library, they'd
already replaced the book. Now that's criminal. (air whooshing) Jovial juror. Being called up for jury duty can be a huge pain in the butt, but a lot of people would do
anything to get out of it. Well, you may be surprised to learn that getting out of jury duty can be a lot easier than it looks. In 2011, Jacob Jock was summoned to be a potential juror for a civil trial. At the very beginning, all
jurors were warned by the judge not to use the internet to
find out more about the case, as it could unfairly sway their judgment. Under the US Constitution's
Sixth Amendment, criminals have the right to
trial by an impartial jury. However, Jacob must have missed this, because one of the first things he did when he got home that night was send the defendant a
friend request on Facebook. Concerned, the defendant
told their attorney, and before proceedings could begin, Jacob was immediately
dismissed from the jury. He claimed it was an accident, that he'd just been
looking the defendant up to see if they had any mutual friends. But, thinking he'd gotten away scot-free, Jacob decided, in all his infinite wisdom, to post a Facebook update reading "Score, I got dismissed. "Apparently they frown upon sending "a friend request to the defendant, haha." Unfortunately for him,
the presiding judge, Nancy Donnellan didn't see
the funny side of it at all. Jacob was later charged and found guilty of being in contempt of court and was sentenced to three days in jail. All that over a friend request. Well, you've got to hand it to him, getting arrested yourself is certainly one way to
get out of jury duty. (air whooshing) Mature miscreant. If you've got pets,
you'll know how much time goes into looking after them. You've got to feed them, wash
them, pick up after them, and, most importantly, stop them from running wild over
other people's property. This lesson was learnt the hard way by 82-year-old Mary Root
of Ferguson, Missouri. Mary was the proud owner
of several chihuahuas, who were having repeated
brushes with the law under the dog-at-large laws of Missouri. Dog-at-large laws make it illegal for dogs to be out of the control
of their owners in public. The laws apply to all towns
and cities in Missouri, which have the express
power to enforce them. Unfortunately, this dog-at-large law would come back to bite poor old Mary like she was a chew toy. After her chihuahuas broke out of her yard one too many times, law
enforcement was called and Mary was slapped with a
$525 fine and a court hearing. Considering she was 82 and lived alone, that's a pretty severe punishment
for letting the dogs out. More trouble lay just
around the corner, however. Due to medical reasons, Mary was unable to
attend her court hearing. As a result, the great-grandmother ended up facing two days
jail time and a $7,000 bill. All that just because
her chihuahuas escaped. Now that's ruff. (air whooshing) Perfume police. Some kids love school, while others have a very
difficult time indeed. 12-year-old Sarah Bustamentes of Texas was someone who fit into
the latter category. Sarah had been diagnosed
with ADHD, bipolar disorder, and suffered from insecurity
surrounding her weight, all of which made her
a target of bullying. After being taunted for
allegedly smelling bad, Sarah sprayed two squirts of perfume on her neck during class. One of the bullies recoiled
and said she smelt even worse. To put a stop to the issue,
the teacher in charge decided to do the grown-up thing and alerted the police, to Sarah. Bizarrely, the po-po
didn't need to be called. They were already in the school. This is because Texas laws
assign armed police officers to hundreds of schools across the state to prevent serious disturbances. In 2020, 60% of American schools had a police presence of some kind. And they're not afraid to
enforce the law either. In 2010, school-based police
gave almost 300,000 tickets to students for offenses committed. These Class C misdemeanor notices were handed to children as young as six and included fines, community service, and, in some cases, prison time. So, with that context in mind, you can imagine how afraid Sarah was when the police officer
arrived in her classroom. Unbelievably, they charged her
with a criminal misdemeanor of disturbing class and
ordered her to appear in court. All this for spraying perfume
in response to bullying? Geez. Luckily, a disability rights group took up Sarah's case and
the charges were dropped. Still, the threat of
a criminal misdemeanor for such a small act really stinks. (air whooshing) I'm with handcuffs. Wherever there are politicians, there will be members of the public trying to embarrass them. We all have the right to question our elected representatives,
but if you take it too far, you could get the wrong kind of reaction. For example, police were careful
which side they walked on when they arrested Iain Fogerty in Queensland, Australia in early 2015. Fogerty was something between a political activist and an online troll. He was the thorn in the side of Queensland Premier Campbell Newman, as he oversaw a Twitter account that parodied the Australian politician. But Fogerty had an even
better prank up his sleeve. When Newman's Liberal National Party held a campaign rally, Fogerty attended. No, not as some new convert to the cause, but in a very (laughs)
eye-catching item of clothing. While it seems to be completely harmless, the police stepped in, claiming Fogerty was
being a public nuisance, and quickly charged him as such. He was then led away by not one, not two, but 10 police officers, all of whom, you guessed it, stood to one side of him. 10 police officers to arrest
a guy wearing a funny shirt? Was there really nothing better to do in the whole of Queensland that day? (air whooshing) Parental profanity. Parents will often tell
you that having children was the best decision of their life. We can't forget however, that parenting involves a lot of hard work. Moms, dads, and guardians
all over the world become overworked, frustrated, and angry. And when those tensions build up, they're bound to boil over, which is what happened with Danielle Wolf. Danielle was grocery shopping with her two daughters and husband when a customer overheard
her drop a few naughty words in the presence of her children. The concerned shopper approached Danielle and asked her to stop. Danielle insisted she was speaking to her husband, not her children, but it wouldn't have made much difference. In the city of North
Augusta, South Carolina, where the profane parent was shopping, it's illegal to use obscene language if somebody else is present. In other words, public swearing
is essentially banned here. And so, the nosy shopper reported Danielle to the
authorities, who was then arrested for disorderly conduct
and given a court date. Now I'm not encouraging swearing, but that's one heavy punishment
for a slip of the tongue. (air whooshing) Magnanimous miscreant. During his life, Arnold Abbott
of Fort Lauderdale, Florida was awarded two Purple
Hearts in military service and, in the 1960s, actively
helped African American citizens vote during a time where such
actions were very dangerous. He was an exceptional member of his community by all standards. But he didn't stop when he got to old age. After the death of his wife in 1991, Abbott began Love Thy Neighbor, a non-profit group committed to feeding the homeless population
of Fort Lauderdale. Abbott could be found every
day on the beachfront, doling out food he had cooked himself to the people who needed it most. However, the local
authorities had other ideas. City ordinances wanted the
Fort Lauderdale beachfront to appeal to more tourists,
something they felt the presence of homeless people prevented. So in a bid to drive them out, they made it illegal to
distribute free food on the beach. Arnold, who was in his 90s by
this point, refused to comply. When he defiantly returned to
the beachfront with more food, the police were waiting to arrest him, threatening him with up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. But that didn't deter
him, so he was arrested and released multiple times just for feeding the homeless. When confronted about
arresting a charity worker for feeding homeless
people, Mayor Jack Seiler coldly commented, "We enforce the laws
here in Fort Lauderdale." Even the punitively unfair ones they've just come up with it seems. (air whooshing) I do not want to go to jail. Who you marry, and when, is one of life's most crucial decisions. But for Josten Bundy and Elizabeth Jaynes, that decision was left to the law. The couple of Tyler, Texas
had discussed marriage, but thought it wouldn't
be a realistic possibility for a long time to come. When an altercation between Josten and Elizabeth's ex-partner
got out of hand though, the couple found themselves in a courtroom faced with Judge Randall Rodgers, otherwise known as Courtroom Cupid. Judge Rodgers presented
Josten with an ultimatum, 15 days in jail or a
life sentence in wedlock. That's right, Judge Rodgers'
alternative to jail time was an impromptu marriage that the couple had to commit to within 30 days. Those present in the court
were audibly shocked but, fearing jail time, Josten agreed to apply for a marriage license. Of course, this was not the
wedding that the couple, who'd only been together
for around a year, envisioned for themselves. Their dream of a spring wedding with white dresses and smart suits was dashed in favor of a white tank top, a blue polo shirt, and the fluorescent lights
of a civil courthouse. While the legitimacy of Judge Rodgers ordering defendants to get married has been questioned by legal experts, Josten and Elizabeth went
through with the wedding. However, they both admit that
if Josten had gone to jail they wouldn't have been able to pay rent on their shared house. And luckily, a year into the marriage they were already planning
a vow renewal ceremony. If you ask me, we should leave
it another 15 anniversaries and then ask them if they
made the right decision. I mean, anyone who's
been married that long will tell you Judge Rodgers' sentence is a lot harsher than it looks. Gosh, the world can be unfair sometimes. Which of those punishments do
you think was the most unfair? Maybe you think some of these people deserved the consequences
of their actions? Whatever your take, let me
know down in the comments. And thanks for watching. (upbeat music)
