Foolish College Students

Let me ask you something. If you were caught breaking the law, and I mean the caught-dead-to-rights-nothing-ambiguous-about-it-type-of-caught, and I was the judge who sentenced you, what would you do months later? Would you go post a picture of yourself on the world wide web, a picture flaunting the crime that got you in trouble in the first place, along with a catchy caption that said, basically, "$%@! you, Judge"?

Probably not. Because you are probably not a Michigan State University student without any brain cells remaining.

As the Detroit Free Press reported, a few Spartans from Michigan State didn't quite understand this behavior may get them into further trouble.

The judge had chastised nine students caught drinking at a Troy high school prom last spring. That would be the end of it, he figured.

It was, until Judge Michael Martone stumbled across a Web site weeks after the students had been sentenced to probation. Leering back at him from his computer screen were some of the same students from Troy Athens High School, now in college.

On the site, they were giving him the finger. They were toasting him with cups of beer and chugging shots of Jagermeister liqueur. They were posing with beer cans stacked almost to the ceiling, and retching into toilets at Michigan State University.

The Web site's headline said: "F U Martone. ... Night after court/ Hahaaa."

As the Free Press states, this all started back in high school, with underage drinking at the Prom. It lead to some consequences with the school, then to consequences with the judicial system.

Days before the prom incident, Judge Martone of Troy's 52-4 District Court had paid a visit to Athens High School, his fifth time in five years, to address the Class of '05.

Martone, 58, has devoted his career to battling under-age drinking.

In 13 years on the bench, he has given speeches on drinking's dangers to more than 150,000 students across the nation.

Other judges have praised and emulated his crusade, especially his dramatic school assemblies in which Martone holds actual court sessions, marching guilty adult defendants off in handcuffs to the gasps of students. He follows up with warnings about the risks of alcohol poisoning, bringing up tearful parents of teens who have died from drinking, making gyms and auditoriums quiet as a cathedral.

So, it was an unhappy coincidence that, after Martone had given his prom warning to the Troy Athens assembly, some of those students appeared before him to be arraigned on charges of being a minor in possession of alcohol, a misdemeanor.

That means they not only can't drink again, but they must stay away from wherever alcohol is served or consumed.

So, after all the court costs and legal fees are paid, and community service is worked, what do you do? Why, you take pictures of yourself violating the Judge's orders and tell him to blank off.

Soon, her computer skills would have her creating the Internet photo gallery. More than 400 digital photos showed some students appearing passed out, others using special tubes to gulp beer, couples playing a drinking game called "beer pong," inebriated girls sitting on toilets -- all of it tagged with captions, many of them profane and aimed at Martone.

All three of the girls in question were shown drinking at parties at Michigan State.

And then, the judge finds out.

The site had been up a month when Martone surfed the Internet, seeking a news release on one of his prevention programs. By entering his own name into a search engine, he landed on (name withheld's) site instead. Almost immediately he recognized faces from Troy Athens and the prom incident, he said.

That triggered what he calls his most trying time as a judge. He was hurt, frustrated and disillusioned, he recalled.

"They made a mockery of the legal system," he said this week. "I had to do something."

The Web site, shown to police and probation officers, immediately became legal evidence for charging the three young women with contempt of court "for disobeying my direct order not to consume alcohol," Martone said.

The judge wasn't happy.

The students were brought before Martone again. He lugged the evidence into court, inside his laptop.

On Dec. 23, (name withheld) the Web-site creator, joined (another girl) in court, ready for their new sentences. This time, (the web site creator) appeared without a parent or a lawyer. She said last week that she did so because she wanted to face Martone on her own, to show her remorse and willingness to accept responsibility for her misdeeds and to try to explain herself. She was deeply ashamed, she said.

She'd written a letter, asking for leniency. She handed it to the judge.

"It was sad," he recalled. "In it, she said she wants to be a criminal justice major. I told her, perhaps you might want to consider another line of work."

Martone began questioning(name withheld) about her Web site, why she created it, and what some of its symbols and profane words meant.

In an exchange of about 45 minutes, Martone reminded her to be honest, as (name withheld) first evaded some questions, then admitted that her Web site did use profanity aimed at Martone, and that she had a drinking problem.

He sentenced her to 30 days in the Oakland County Jail. She was marched off in handcuffs, to spend Christmas and New Year's Day behind bars.

Martone then sentenced (the other girl) to 15 days. The two become cellmates.

A third girl received a more lenient sentence, 10 days in the slammer, plus 100 hours of Community Service. The 10 days would be served on the weekends.

Of the nine students who drank before the prom, two others have served jail time as well, for later alcohol infractions. But only the three women created evidence that landed in the judge's laptop.