Then there is the Scarlet Letter ethic. As the accused stand before them handcuffed, the citizens let loose with a kind of verbal stoning. Marie Przynski, who started the shaming program in the police precinct she commands. Afterward, the accused are released, but the arrests stay on their records and their names and license plate numbers are given to neighborhood leaders. Thanks to popular demand, she said, the show is now run four times each Wednesday, up from once when it started.
Nobody really knows yet, experts say.
In Kansas City, Sgt. The recidivism rate has not changed, he said, but some men seem to be more cautious about whom they pick up, fearing that the women may be undercover officers. I wish it was. Dan Kahan, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School, thinks shaming is generally a good idea because it provides an inexpensive and morally satisfying alternative to imprisonment. They don't seem to be serious enough to fit the crime, and community service seems uplifting rather than downgrading.