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  • 4
    Feb
    2013
    4:53pm, EST

    Woman gets month in jail for flipping off Florida judge

    View more videos at: http://nbcmiami.com.

    By Daniel Arkin, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A Florida woman who gave a judge the middle-finger at a bond hearing on Monday got a judicial thumbs-down in return: 30 days in jail.


    Follow @NBCNewsUS

    Penelope Soto, 18, was sentenced to nearly a month behind bars for contempt of court after she flipped off Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jorge Rodriguez-Chomat.

    Soto, who had been arrested for illegal possession of Xanax, was apparently indignant after Rodriguez-Chomat raised her bond from $5,000 to $10,000.

    But even before Soto gave Rodriguez-Chomat the one-finger salute, they weren't exactly seeing eye-to-eye. Earlier in the hearing, Soto laughed at the judge after he asked her how much her jewelry was worth.

    "It's not a joke," he is seen saying in video recorded in the courtroom (above). "You know, we're not in a club right now. We are not in a club. Be serious about it."

    "I'm serious about it. You just made me laugh," Soto responds. "I apologize. It's worth a lot of money."

    The judge still wanted to know: How much money?

    "Like Rick Ross [money]," Soto replied, referencing to blinged-out South Florida hip-hop star. "It's worth money."

    But the reference was lost on Rodriguez-Chomat, who asked Soto if she'd taken any drugs in the past day.

    "Actually, no," Soto said.

    Rodriguez-Chomat set Soto's bond at $5,000, sending her off with a wry "bye-bye."

    "Adios," Soto replied with a laugh.

    But the annoyed judge asked her to return to the stand and promptly reset her bond at $10,000 -- much to Soto's surprise.

    "Are you serious?" Soto asked incredulously.

    "I am serious," he replied. "Adios."

    It's then that Soto gave Rodriguez-Chomat the finger, throwing in an expletive, for good measure. That's when the judge slapped Soto with a 30-day jail sentence.

    Of course, not all birds are created equal. In May 2006, a New York man, John Swartz, was arrested for disorderly conduct after he flipped off a police officer. But last month, a federal appeals court overturned a lower-court decision holding that giving a cop the middle-finger warrants arrest.

    The middle-finger, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Circuit Appeals wrote in their decision, is an "ancient gesture of insult" and "is not the basis for a reasonable suspicious of a traffic violation or impending criminal activity."

    Swartz's lawyer, Elmer Robert Keach III, praised the court's decision as an "important victory for civil rights."

    "It reaffirms that just because you insult a police officer [it] doesn't give that police officer the right to detain you or arrest you and take away your liberty," Keach told the Associated Press.

    55 comments

    well the USA is no longer the land of the free. I applaud the woman for flipping the judge off. Some judges over extend their power sometimes. The judge can just get over it.

    Show more
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