BELEN, N.M. — 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 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.”
Chavez had already 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 Daniel Hawkes brought his courtroom to the school in hopes that the proceedings will show students the dangers of alcohol, especially in the weeks leading up to the prom and graduation.
When the hearing began, 18-year-old Angel Mendez didn’t realize the seriousness of the proceedings. But after watching Marlene Chavez and four other repeat offenders get sentenced, he changed his view.
“I thought it was pretty shocking just to see them like that. I didn’t think they would have them in shackles,” he said.
Elizabeth Sluder, 17, was initially skeptical, too, thinking the hearing was overly staged. But she also changed her mind by the end.
“You see your friends, you know, they’re like, ‘I’m going to go out to this party.’ But you never see the consequences of them getting in trouble or getting in an accident, or any kind of consequence of driving drunk,” she said. “But here, it’s actually being brought to us. It does happen, there are consequences.”
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