BELEN, N.M. (AP) - Marlene Chavez stood before a hushed courtroom, acknowledging the consequences of her second drunken-driving offense. Among the spectators were hundreds of teenagers who hung on her every word.
“I lost a lot of things,” said Mrs. Chavez, 43. “I left my vehicle in the impound so that I don’t do drinking and driving after that. And I lost my house. I lost my kids to their father so that they can go stay with him because I had nowhere to go.”
Mrs. Chavez already had pleaded guilty. Now a judge gave her four days in jail and a $500 fine. But her sentence came with an additional indignity: It happened in a high school auditorium, where 400 students stared as she lifted one leg, then the other, to let jailers shackle her feet. Guards also wrapped a chain around her waist and handcuffed her.
When the hearing ended, she was escorted out of Belen High School, about 30 miles south of Albuquerque, and locked up.
Magistrate Judge Daniel Hawkes brought his courtroom to the school in hopes that the proceedings would show students the dangers of alcohol, especially in the weeks leading up to the prom and graduation.
Judge Hawkes, whose program is unique in New Mexico, sentenced two other people at the school last year. He brings with him a plywood court bench emblazoned with a New Mexico Supreme Court seal. The makeshift courtroom also includes U.S. and New Mexico flags.
New Mexico Supreme Court Chief Justice Ed Chavez, no relation to Mrs. Chavez, said he would like to see the program go statewide.
Angel Mendez, 18, didn’t realize the seriousness of the proceedings when the hearings began, but changed his view after watching the sentencings of Mrs. Chavez and four other repeat offenders.
“I thought it was pretty shocking just to see them like that. I didn’t think they would have them in shackles,” he said.
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