Man sent to jail for yawning (yawning "boisterously" in court)

[Raineyrocks]

http://news.uk.msn.com/odd-news/article.aspx?cp-documentid=149101922

MSN UK News
   
Monday, 10 August 2009
Man sent to jail for yawning
A man has received a six-month jail sentence for yawning "boisterously" in a court (Image © Anna Gowthorpe/PA Archive/Press Association Images)

A man in the US has received a six-month jail sentence for yawning "boisterously" in court.

Clifton Williams, 33, was attending the Will County Courthouse in Illinois to hear the sentencing of his cousin, who had pleaded guilty to a drugs charge.

As Judge Daniel Rozak delivered his verdict of two years' probation, Williams let out a yawn.

The judge responded by giving Williams a six-month prison sentence, the maximum penalty for criminal contempt without a trial by jury.

The Chicago Tribune reported Williams' father, Clifton Williams Snr, as commenting, "I was flabbergasted. I didn't realise a judge could do that. It seems to me like a yawn is an involuntary action."

A spokesman for the Illinois attorney's office said the prosecutor in the courtroom that day told him that "it was not a simple yawn, it was a loud and boisterous attempt to disrupt the proceedings."

The judge's order sentencing Williams to six months in jail found that he "raised his hands while at the same time making a loud yawning sound" that caused the judge to "break from the proceedings."

"I really can't believe I'm in jail," Williams later commented in a letter to his family. "I done set (sic) in this [expletive] a week so far for nothing."

[Raineyrocks]

http://household-tips.thefuntimesguide.com/2006/08/yawningandyawns.php

Fun Facts About Yawning... Guaranteed To Make You Yawn!
Written by Lynnette on August 10, 2006 | Comments (10)

A yawning man...

Consider this my one-person mission to get the entire world to yawn (...or at least all 10,000 or so of you reading this website right now!)

Go ahead...

Try & fight it.

But before you finish this article you'll yawn.

Guaranteed.

Usually, just thinking (or reading) about yawning will make you yawn.

And when the person next to you yawns, forget about it... you'll yawn too.


Try & fight the yawn #1:
Pictures of people (and pets) yawning...


    Flickr photos that capture yawns...


    "It's widely assumed that yawning occurs because we are tired or bored or because we see someone else doing it, but there isn't any hard evidence to support these beliefs. The most plausible explanation, and the one that is taught in medical school, is that we yawn because oxygen levels in our lungs are low."
    -- MSNBC: Why Do We Yawn?

But even this has been disputed...


Try & fight the yawn #2:
Fun Facts About Yawning...

    * We know it's involuntary because we do it even before we are born. Research shows that 11-week-old fetuses yawn.

    * Yawns become contagious to people between the first and second years of life.

    * When one person in a group yawns, over half of the people in the group will yawn within five minutes, and the rest will at least be tempted to yawn.

    * Even animals yawn when they see another animal yawn.

    * Yawns in male students had a longer duration than those in female students.

    * The average duration of a yawn is about 6 seconds.


      Try & fight the yawn #3:
      Yawn sounds...


      Girl stretching while yawning



      Workin' up to a good yawn



      Yawning while stretching

      So there.

      Now that you're feeling very sleepy... my work here is done.
      yawning-is-contageous.jpg
      photo via BigFun

      RELATED:

          Health Issues Associated With Excessive Yawning

          What Makes Us Yawn?

          Dogs Catch The Yawns From People