Noisy Teens Sentenced to Manilow Sessions

'Music misery' sentences used to bring noisemakers in line
By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 21, 2009 3:59 AM CST
Noisy Teens Sentenced to Manilow Sessions
Singer Barry Manilow's music is being used to punish young offenders in Fort Lupton, Colo.   (AP Photo/Toys"R"Us, Dima Gavrysh)

Call it cruel and unusual punishment—or at least unusual. When a Colorado judge sentences teenagers guilty of blasting car stereos too loud in Fort Lupton, he often imposes a session of enforced "musical misery," the Los Angeles Times reports. That means a Friday night in his courtroom listening to Barry Manilow, the Barney Song or Bing Crosby.

One punishment session experienced by a Times reporter included Manilow crooning, "I write the songs that make the young girls cry"—and the sequestered teens looked like they just might do that. The decade-old program seems to be working, and boasts a repeat-offender rate of just 5%.
(More Barry Manilow stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X