When I first saw this image in today's Guardian, I assumed it was part of some campaign to stick one on the mighty Wal-Mart. Good on you, I thought. I had visions of hundreds of other protesters across America with similar messages hung from their shoulders. However, I then read the accompanying article and discovered the following:
For the crime of shoplifting, a woman from Attalla, Alabama, is sentenced to spend two consecutive Saturdays standing outside a shopping plaza wearing a sandwich board sign reading: "I am a thief. I stole from Wal-Mart."
A rather draconian form of punishment last witnessed in the Middle Ages. However, I have to agree with Tim Dowling (the writer of the piece) when he writes:
In this case, however, the deterrent could be prone to backfire: in light of Wal-Mart's various crimes against small businesses, suppliers, its own labour force and the planet, wearing a sign that says, "I stole from Wal-Mart" might easily be taken as an act of political defiance worthy of imitation. What is needed is a small army of protesters to stand alongside her with similar signs in order to shield her, Spartacus-style, from further indignity. She is there all morning next Saturday, if you are in the area.
Not so much a punishment, more a badge of honour. Let's hope it catches on.
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