Judge Forgives Teen Who Flipped Him Off

Penelope Soto won't have to serve 30 days
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 9, 2013 9:30 AM CST
Judge Forgives Teen Who Flipped Him Off
In this image taken from video at Miami-Dade Circuit Court, Penelope Soto reacts after Judge Jorge Rodriguez-Chomat doubled her bond. She later flipped him off, but now all is forgiven.   (AP Photo/Miami Dade Circuit Court)

Remember Penelope Soto, the Florida teen who became so enraged at a judge's treatment of her that she flipped him the bird and dropped an f-bomb? All is forgiven, reports NBC Miami. Soto tearfully apologized to Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jorge Rodriguez-Chomat yesterday, calling her behavior "irrational." Rodriguez-Chomat accepted the mea culpa and dropped the 30-day contempt-of-court sentence he had imposed. It helped that she's a first-time offender who promises to get drug treatment. But there's more, said the judge:

  • “I should not even call you as totally responsible. We live in a society where if you listen to music, every other word is a profanity We live in a society where young people like you feel like it’s perfectly OK to call all kinds of names to their teachers and their professors and their friends. And they think that’s OK."
(More Penelope Soto stories.)

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