Rather than putting criminals in prison, a judge in Iran has been handing out reading and writing assignments.
These sentences require the person to buy and read five different books and then write summaries of the books to turn into the judge. The books are then donated to a local prison. BBC has the scoop:
Judge Qasem Naqizadeh, who presides over a court in the north-eastern city of Gonbad-e Kavus, is using the alternative sentences to avoid what he calls the “irreversible physical and psychological impact on convicts and their families” that a prison term might bring, state-run IRNA news agency reports.