Oh jesus you naughty boy. Better luck next time.

[genkaus]

What if, instead of Jesus, it was a mini-replica of the Statue of Liberty or George Washington or some other national symbol? Or what if he wiped his butt (or..um.. massaged his front-side in a sexual way) with the American flag and posted those pics on facebook? Lets just take religion out of the equation altogether. For those who thought any form of punishment was too extreme -- is there no room in our society anymore for at least some minor crimial punishment for public behavior that likely still offends the majority in some obvious way?

Not in a free society - there isn't. Societal punishment - like public condemnation or ostracization is fine, but there should be no legal recourse against something that is merely offensive and without tangible damages.

But, as a contrapositive, many in my area would likely applaud a court who sentenced, say, some local anti-gay bigot to some community service if they posted pics publicly on facebook that denegraded a statue of Harvey Milk.

Actually, my position would be the same here - public adulation is irrelevant. The point of constitutional freedom is that it is beyond the reach of majority opinion.

To me, this kind of thing is more than just rude or inappropriate, it actually (in a very small way) merely fans the flames of discontent for society while providing only a limited pay-off of mirth that appeals to a relatively small few....and thus is likely in the best interest of the government to deter it in some minor way.

Are we deciding legality based on the best interest of the government now?

Two years in juvenal detetion would have been way over the top...but a few hours of community service seems kind of appropriate to me. In my thinking, this is just this kind of minor "criminal" activity for which community service was specifically designed. Do a little societal dirty deed, as a prank or as a protest, then do a little societal clean up later to make up for the former. In the larger picture of balancing the differing needs of a diverse society, I found this punishment appropriate to the crime.

I disagree - offending someone's sensibilities is not and should be a criminal offense.