INCENTIVE

Louisiana Judge’s Get Out of Jail Card: He’ll Cut Community-Service Hours if You Get Vaccine

A Louisiana judge will erase four hours of community service from a criminal’s docket if she agreed to come back with both doses of COVID vaccine.

A judge in Baton Rouge, Louisiana came up with a unique incentive to get a criminal to agree to get the COVID-19 vaccinate: He cut four hours of community service off the woman’s sentence. Judge Fred Crifasi offered the deal to a client of attorney Ashley Greenhouse, who told WAFB-TV that her client took the deal right away. “He was like ‘If you show me, we’ll reset the matter,’” Greenhouse said. “‘If you’ll come back and show me you’re double vaccinated, fully vaccinated then I will give you credit for those hours.’ I think he was really careful that he was not forcing you, he was not coercing you to do it.” District Attorney Hillar Moore applauded the judge’s offer and said he hopes more judges offer similar incentives in the notoriously low-vaccinated area, where cases are climbing daily. “What do you want someone doing right now?” Moore told the television station. “Do you want them picking up trash on the side of the road or potentially donating services for good causes? Or do you want someone to do something for themselves and protect others?”