Yeetle Box - Hard Time

An Illinois judge has freed a man who had been in jail for three weeks after letting loose a loud yawn during a sentencing hearing.

Thirty-three-year-old Clifton Williams of Richton Park was found in contempt of court and jailed on July 23 after yawning in Will County Judge Daniel Rozak's court. He could have been jailed for six months, but was given merely three weeks - the minimum for yawning in court.

Williams was in court for his cousin's sentencing on a drug charge. A prosecutor in court at the time described the offending yawn as "loud and boisterous, like a train coming through a tunnel. A big train coming through a big tunnel. Disgusting!"

As Williams stood before the bench in shackles on Thursday, the judge gave him a short lecture. He told Williams he wasn't in custody for simply yawning but for making a sound "that was offensive to the court, to the entire judicial process, and to all that is great and good about the United States of America."

The judge continued, "You have yawned in the face of freedom, young man. That will not be tolerated in this courtroom."

Said Williams later, outside the courthouse steps, "The whole thiing was really boring. I'm tired now."

The YeetleMaster