This Is Larry Craig's Kind of Judge

Some state judges like to explore alternative punishments. I haven't heard this one before:

Authorities are investigating allegations that now-suspended Mobile County Circuit Judge Herman Thomas periodically removed prisoners from Mobile County Metro Jail and spanked them in a room at the courthouse, according to courthouse sources involved in the inquiry.

Once inside the room, according to the sources, the judge would ask the young men to drop their pants and prepare to be spanked with what they described as a wooden or fraternity-like paddle.

Apparently, Judge Thomas is from the "spare the rod, spoil the child" school:

At least one young man has alleged that as a prelude to the paddling, Thomas told him that if he had been spanked when he was a child, he would not have found himself in jail later, according to one of the newspaper's sources.

Were there guidelines that dictated the number of spankings? Was Judge Thomas a fan of the University of Minnesota Spankalogical Protocol? It boggles the mind!