Community courts let the punishment fit the crime, compassionately

csmlogo_largeEarlier this year, Marshall Little walked into a Wal-Mart in Hartford, Conn., and tried to walk out with a GPS navigator without paying. A few months later, he walked into a supermarket and tried to leave with $226.26 worth of food.

“Marshall, how many times have you been arrested?” Judge Raymond Norko asked when Mr. Little appeared before him at Hartford Community Court.

“Four times?” Little said. “Four times, I think. Enough.”

“Everyone says ‘enough,’ ” Judge Norko replied.

“I’m not coming back,” Little said…

Click here to read the full story.