by emad » Sat Nov 05, 2005 1:48 pm
<br><br>Associated Press<br>Saturday November 5, 2005<br>The Guardian <br><br><br>The Mayor of Las Vegas, Oscar Goodman, suggested that those who deface roads with graffiti should have their thumbs cut off on television.<br><br>Mr Goodman said on a local TV programme: "In the old days in France, they had beheading of people who commit heinous crimes.<br><br>"You know, we have a beautiful highway landscaping redevelopment in our downtown [district]. We have desert tortoises and beautiful paintings of flora and fauna. These punks come along and deface it.<br><br>"I'm saying maybe you put them on TV and cut off a thumb," the mayor added. "That may be the right thing to do."<br>Mr Goodman also suggested that whipping or caning should be brought back for children who get into trouble.<br><br>"I also believe in a little bit of corporal punishment going back to the days of yore, where examples have to be shown," Mr Goodman said.<br><br>"I'm dead serious," said the mayor, adding, "Some of these [children] don't learn. You have got to teach them a lesson - and this is coming from a criminal defence lawyer. They would get a trial first."<br><br>Another panellist on the show, Howard Rosenberg, a state university system regent, responded by saying that cutting off the thumbs of taggers would not solve the problem and Mayor Goodman should "use his head for something other than a hat rack".<br><br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1635035,00.html">www.guardian.co.uk/usa/st...35,00.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--> <p></p><i></i>
