“Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?” Music as Punishment in the United States Legal System

Abstract

In recent years, music scholars as well as the public at large have become increasingly aware of music's negative potential. Rather than a subversive anomaly, music's destructive possibilities are an enduring and powerful reality within our historical past and present. This article examines a current example of the exploitation of music's darker potential—the use of music as punishment in the United States legal system—by specifically evaluating the “Music Immersion Program,” invented by Judge Paul Sacco. This program subjects noise violators in Fort Lupton, Colorado, to one hour of music as punishment for their transgression. Based in part on the testimony of Judge Paul Sacco, feedback forms from participants in his program of musical punishment submitted upon completion of the sentence, as well as newspaper articles and theories of punishment, this article considers the origins of this punishment and how it is administered, as well as the sentence's intended results and ultimate effects.

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge Martin L. Hirsch for discussing with me the ramifications of music as punishment. This project benefited from his legal expertise. I would also like to thank Judge Paul Sacco and Judge Wayne Miller for discussing with me their musical punishments. A special thanks to Judge Miller for putting me in touch with Zachary Brown. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to the editors of the present volume as well as Charles Hersch for thoughtfully responding to an early draft of this article.

Notes

 [1] For a brief history of legislation against noise in France, see Attali (122–24).

 [2] See, for example McClary (112–31) and the poem “The Ninth Symphony of Beethoven Understood at Last as a Sexual Message” (Rich 43). The novel and especially the film A Clockwork Orange should also be mentioned in this regard. For a fascinating discussion of McClary's controversial reading of Beethoven, see Fink (109–53).

 [3] There are other reports of schools using music as punishment. See the description of Sinatra's music used as such in Teachout.

 [4] In conversation with Zachary Brown, he explained his cooperation as necessary; after all, he was “sworn to tell the truth.”

 [5] Sacco reiterated this sentiment in our e-mail correspondence.

 [6] Sacco corroborated this basic premise in our e-mail correspondence as well.

 [7] For a more rigorous explanation of Schopenhauer's conception of music, see Alperson (155–66).

 [8] There was also one illegible response.

 [9] Karen Cade made these forms available to the author.

[10] The goal of rehabilitation or education, according to some in the legal profession, is also ultimately doomed in the justice system. The United States court system involves a relationship between government and criminal and thus lacks the emotional bond necessary for rehabilitation or education such as the more intimate bond between family members (Golash 166).

[11] Studies of tinnitus, in a way, provide support for such a conclusion. Negative psychological reactions to this condition have to do with perceptions of control rather than perceptions of volume (Henry and Wilson 20–22).

[12] Music as torture has inspired similarly wide-ranging reactions—from condemnation to condescension. Johnson and Cloonan have discussed these reactions, specifically, for our purposes, the media's humor response to the use of music as torture, in addition to outright dismissals of the very idea of music as torture: for example, Bill O'Reilly, the outspoken host of Fox News, cited the view that music could torture as “just nuts” (Johnson and Cloonan 188–92).

[13] Rap can also promote debauchery as well as an image of women as objects. See Richardson and Scott (184).

[14] Though there are no national statistics, records from three Ohio municipalities show that a disproportionate number of African Americans “are being cited and or arrested for violation of such ordinances” (Laven 19–20).

[15] See, for example, Jonathan Bellman's post on 24 August 2007 in the blog “Dial ‘M’ for Musicology.”

[16] See, for example, Bonds' discussion of naturalism (390–92).