Shena Hardin was ordered by Cleveland Municipal Judge Pinkey Carr to stand at East 38th and Superior Avenue with a sign that reads: "Only an idiot would drive on the sidewalk to avoid a school bus." Hardin's license was suspended for 30 days and she was ordered to pay a $250 fine for failing to stop for a school bus and using a sidewalk to pass the bus. CLEVELAND, Ohio — A Cleveland woman who gained unwanted national attention for a judge's order that she carry a sign that labels her an "idiot" for driving around a school bus completed a part of her sentence Tuesday.
Shena Hardin, 32, walked up to the corner of East 38th Street and Superior Avenue during the morning rush hour and held a 22-inch sign that reads: "Only an idiot would drive on the sidewalk to avoid a school bus," at the location where she passed a school bus driver who had stopped to pick up a disabled student in September.
However, Cleveland Municipal Judge Pinkey S. Carr was not happy with the way Hardin conducted her first 60 minutes of a two-day, 120-minute sentence. Carr last week ordered Hardin to stand at the corner for an hour Tuesday morning and another hour again today.
Hardin, wearing a black jacket, hat and sunglasses, did not respond to questions from dozens of media who stood nearby at the corner Tuesday. She smoked a cigarette, listened to music and appeared to send text messages on her cell phone as buses and cars beeped at her.
"I saw television footage of her smoking and texting," Carr said, "and the only time she held that sign up was to use it as a shield to block the wind so she could light up her cigarettes. She was making a mockery of my court order."
Carr said she told Hardin's attorney, Jaye Schlachet, that she intends to stop by this morning and wants "to see something different."
"I don't think I'm asking her too much to hold up that sign for one hour without her smoking or texting," Carr added.
Schlachet could not be reached for comment.
Hardin pleaded guilty last week to failure to stop for a school bus. Carr said last week that Hardin's lack of remorse played a part of her sentence.
The judge said Hardin, who works as an administrative assistant for the Cleveland State University Police Department, had driven on the sidewalk on several occasions to avoid the school bus.
Carr also suspended Hardin's license for 30 days and ordered her to pay a $250 fine for failing to stop for a school bus.
A police officer visited the scene and snapped a picture of Hardin on a cell phone camera. At the end of her hour, Hardin moved through a mob of media and left in a gray Jeep being driven by another woman.
Some residents who live in the neighborhood said Hardin's sentence was embarrassing, but well deserved.
Sam Tate, 39, who lives on the street where Hardin passed the bus, said he previously witnessed Hardin passing the school bus and was present the day police cited her.
"I watched her do it a few times," Tate said. "She could have run over one of the kids at that daycare and really hurt someone."