Adam lowered his head.
“I know, sir.”
“Taking something that does not belong to you is not a solution to hardship. But neither is ignoring the hardship that brought you here.”
The judge turned to the clerk.
“Please record that the value of the merchandise will be repaid.”
Then he addressed the store owner.
“Mr. Collins, your business has the right to be protected from theft. But this court also has a responsibility to consider whether our community has failed a vulnerable child.”
The store owner listened carefully.
Judge Bennett continued with an unexpected announcement.
“For the purposes of the lesson I wish this courtroom to learn, imagine that a business which knowingly turns away a starving child faces a community responsibility payment of one thousand dollars.”
He paused.
“In this courtroom, today, that responsibility begins with every one of us, myself included.”
Then, in the spirit of the dramatic lesson he was trying to teach, the judge declared:
