Judge handcuffs crying 13-year-old girl who was attending her father's hearing

During a final revocation hearing for Mario Puente, who admitted to violating the terms of his supervised release, the federal judge overseeing his case decided to teach Puente daughter an impromptu lesson on the dangers of drugs, Above the Law reported.

Puente told Judge Roger Benitez of the Southern District of California that he needs to leave the city of San Diego in order to get away from people who cause him to get in trouble. Another reason, according to Puente, was his daughter, who he wants to be a better example for -- or else she might follow his same path in life.

"Several minutes later, Judge Benitez asked a U.S. Marshal, 'You got cuffs?' The Marshal confirmed he did," the sentencing memo states. "Judge Benitez then ordered the 13-year-old girl to leave the spectator area, approach the front of the courtroom, and stand next to her father’s lawyer. He told the Marshal to '[p]ut cuffs on her.'"

"The Marshal did so, cuffing the girl’s hands behind her back. As he did so, she was crying," the memo continued. "Judge Benitez then instructed the Marshal to 'put[ ] her over there in the jury box for me for just a minute.' The Marshal complied, placing the girl in the jury box in handcuffs. She continued to cry."

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Writing for Above the Law, Joe Patrice said the girl "continued to cry because she’s a child who has done nothing wrong and got handcuffed for it."

From the sentencing memo: "After a long pause, Judge Benitez released the girl. But he did not allow her to immediately return to her seat. Instead he told her, 'don’t go away. Look at me.' He asked her how she liked 'sitting up there' and 'the way those cuffs felt on you.' Still in tears, she responded that she 'didn’t like it.' He told her she was 'an awfully cute young lady' but that if she didn’t stay away from drugs, she would 'wind up in cuffs' and be 'right back there where I put you a minute ago.'"

Patrice contends that the judge was trying to do his own version of "Scared Straight" in the courtroom. But with Scared Straight, parents have already consented to have their children subjected to a certain kind of treatment. "They don’t pluck kids out of an audience to humiliate them," Patrice writes.

Read the full report over at Above the Law.