Now that's a get out of jail card

Go to jail, or embarrass yourself in public?

That was the choice for 22 year old Shane McQuillan in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on Thanksgiving Day.

He chose the embarrassment.

McQuillan crashed his car into the gates of the local waste water treatment plant last March. His blood alcohol level registered .238.

We talked to the judge known for his strange sentences. Judge Paul Lenz says over the years, he's handed out 20 or so similar sentences. But, he says for the most part, the criminals pass and choose to sit out their sentences rather than face public humiliation.

They read "I was stupid," "I’m a thief," and "I stole from the families of the dead."

They're all options to reduce jail time.

"It's something for them to think about," Lenz says. "Even if they don't choose to do it, they have to think about it because they have to think about whether they'll select the option. That means they'll think more about the consequences."

Consequences for cases like Shane McQuillan's. He was found guilty of criminal damage to property after he rammed his car into the closed gate at Eau Claire's Waste Water Treatment Plant in March.

McQuillan told an officer he had been drinking and was quote "just being stupid." Now, the 22 year old will hold a sign telling everyone "I was stupid".

The judge says he's also thinking about money when he assigns a sign. In tough budget times, he says keeping non-violent people out of jail makes sense. Then there's the humiliation.

“It's a difficult thing to do if you think about it for yourself. It's basically a public acknowledgment that what you did was wrong and that's difficult for people to do," Judge Lenz says. "It’s also for others who might think about doing that type of behavior to think about."