By Associated Press, 7/21/2003

WEST CHESTER, Pa. -- A judge handed down a novel sentence to a defendant with a lengthy rap sheet: He ordered him to read "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Judge Juan Sanchez gave William Fowlkes, 46, of West Chester, his own copy of Harper Lee's classic novel and instructed him to read it and write an essay about how his "disgusting" behavior relates to the book.

"I have read the book many times because I think it is a powerful book," Sanchez said. "It captures the life of a lawyer who (gains) the respect of other people in turbulent times."

Fowlkes has been arrested numerous times, on charges including criminal trespassing, harassment and aggravated assault, over the last two decades. He was arrested most recently in March when West Chester police responded to a report of a disturbance.

Police said Fowlkes spit on an officer and kicked the windows inside the patrol car, shattering the glass and bending the metal holding the windows.

Sanchez also sentenced Fowlkes to four to 12 months in prison and ordered him to pay $350 in restitution in fines earlier this month.

He said he hoped the defendant would pay particular attention to the scene in which Atticus Finch, the novel's noble protagonist, reacts stoically when another character spits at him.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel centers on the wrongful conviction of a black man, defended by Finch, for raping a white woman.