Michael Cicconetti

Michael A. Cicconetti (born April 24, 1951) is a retired Municipal Court judge who presided in Painesville, Lake County, Ohio, United States. He is known for having dispensed unique sentences, which he has described as "creative justice". He often left the choice of penalty to the defendant, who was faced with spending time in jail or undergoing one of Cicconetti's unusual punishments. These often involved placing the defendant in a similar position to that of the defendant's victim at the time of the crime.

In February 2019, Cicconetti announced that he planned to retire later in the year. He retired from being a judge on September 22, 2019.

Accolades and legacy Due in part to the popularity of his actions, Cicconetti won the presidency of the American Judges Association.

He has held a four-year term on the Painesville Township Board of Education and has spent fourteen years as a Painesville Township Trustee. He was previously a member of the Coalition of Justice Associations, and served as president of the Northern Ohio Municipal Judges' Association.

Sentences such as Cicconetti's are becoming more popular across the United States, and one judge has cited him specifically as being the influence for one of her own sentences.

Early life and education Cicconetti is originally from Italy.

He is an Eagle Scout, earning the award in 1964 as a member of Scout Troop 64 in Painesville, Ohio. He was the oldest of nine siblings who had to work on ore boats throughout the Great Lakes as a deckhand and deckwatch to fund himself through college. After graduating from St. Leo University, he became Clerk of the Painesville Municipal Court while attending Cleveland State University Law School at night.

Personal life Cicconetti has five children and six grandchildren. In that same statement, he said that he did not regret the choice, citing comments made by then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer "attacking the Justices of the United States Supreme Court". In 2005, he offered 26-year-old Ohio housewife Michelle Murray the option of spending a night in the woods for abandoning 35 kittens in a forest in wintertime in return for a reduced prison sentence. Two teenagers who scrawled 666 on a nativity figure of Jesus had to lead a donkey through the streets, with a sign saying: "Sorry for the jackass offense, but he is soooo cute!" Teenagers who flattened tires on school buses were ordered to throw a picnic for the primary school children whose outing was cancelled due to the prank. In January 2008, Cicconetti sentenced a man who stole a red collection kettle holding about $250 from the Salvation Army to spend 24 hours homeless. A woman who was convicted of stealing from a church was ordered to spell out the sentence "I stole coins from this church" entirely in coins and apologize to each worshipper as they entered the church. A woman who skipped out on a cab fare was ordered to walk 30 miles in 48 hours. Thirty miles was the distance the cab driver had driven her before she skipped out on the fare. A woman who pleaded guilty to assault for using pepper spray on a woman was given the choice to serve 30 days in jail or serve three days of community service and shoot herself with pepper spray. After agreeing to the latter she was sprayed and found out it was only water. A woman who pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and neglect for abandoning a dog in an uninhabitable house was given a choice of serving 90 days in jail or picking up garbage for 8 hours in the Lake County Landfill. The defendant chose to work in the landfill. A nanny accused of hitting a boy with a belt was compelled to read articles on the consequences of child abuse, and then discuss them in the courtroom in front of the judge, the victim's mother, and spectators.