Hawaii Judge Orders 144 Compliments To Counter ‘Nasty’ Texts

MAUI, HI — Your mother always told you to say nice things, and now a judge has ordered a defendant in Hawaii to do the same, sentencing a man she called "thumb happy" to write a compliment for each of the 144 “nasty” text messages he sent his ex-girlfriend in less than three minutes. Each compliment must be original, Judge Rhonda Loo told Daren Young, admonishing, “No repeating words.”

The victim in the case had received a protection order against Young, 30, who on Friday pleaded no contest to 16 counts of violating the order, according to media reports. Loo also gave him credit for five months he has spent in jail since sending the flurry of messages, placed him on probation for two years, and ordered him to pay a fine of $2,400 and perform 200 hours of community service, the reports said.

Young has 144 days to compose his compliments.

The original sentence ordering Young not to contact his ex-girlfriend was handed down on Feb. 22. Three months later, on May 22, he texted, called or attempted to call her 144 times between 8:39-11:10 p.m., police said, according to a report in the Maui News.

Watch Now: Judge Orders One Compliment For Every 'Nasty' Text

Loo said it was “so childish to think a grown man can be so thumb-happy.”

“I don’t know whether I should cut off your fingers or take away your phone to get you to stop texting,” Loo said. “You probably shouldn’t get a phone, period. I hope she changed her number.”

Zach Raidmae, Young’s public defender, said 157 days in jail gave his client time to think about the “tasteless things” he had said to his girlfriend and that he has “experienced the sting” of not complying with the terms of the protection order.

Young told the judge he had learned his lesson, won’t reach out to his ex-girlfriend again and is moving forward with his life, The Associated Press reported.

Loo isn’t the first judge to mete out unusual punishments. A Painesville, Ohio, municipal court has handed down several eyebrow-raising sentences, including giving an 18-year-old who stiffed a cab driver for a fare the choice between 30 days in jail or walking 30 miles. She chose to walk.

Also in Ohio, a Cleveland municipal judge ordered a woman who drove on the sidewalk to get around a stopped school bus unloading children to stand on a sidewalk for an hour holding a sign that read, “Only an idiot would drive on the sidewalk to avoid a school bus."

And in Colorado, a judge ordered people in court on noise violations to listen to an hour-long playlist of Barry Manilow or the theme song from the children’s show, “Barney and Friends."

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