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Did the judge ask him for his calculus homework too?

integ.jpgBack in 2002, Alan Koren (the then-owner of a pallet company) testified before in a Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents hearing for a workers comp claim. Turns out he told some lies, and so he’s now been found guilty of lying under oath. That conviction came with a sentence of two-and-a-half years in the clink, but the judge gave Koren an out.

Judge Fecteau suspended the sentence for three years with probation, as long as Koren meets certain probation conditions. He has to give three public speeches to students or business folks over the next three years, to explain this case and why he did bad things and why they were, in fact, bad.

But the better part of Koren’s probation condition is this - he has 90 days to read the book “Integrity,” written by a Yale law professor, and then he has another 60 days to write an essay applying the lessons from this book to his case, and explaining why he thinks the judge ordered him to read it.

“I want the lessons of this case to be indelibly learned and wired into Koren’s mind,” Fecteau said.

If I were the judge, I also would’ve also made him read one of the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. Not because they’re character builders or particularly full of good life lessons, but because he deserves a little fun after reading “Integrity” which, while I’m sure it’s a smart read, is probably a touch dry.