William Obermiller The Strong Arm of the Law

Anthony Borgo May 2020

The final gavel was struck at Whiting’s city court on December 30, 2019. The city of Whiting had a court system since November 4, 1913, when Roy Green was elected Whiting’s first Judge. On that December night, Judge Ann Likens hung up her robe for the last time. Judge Likens served as Whiting’s judge since 2004. At the time of Judge Likens appointment she stated, “They (community) can expect fair treatment and respect, and also when necessary, firmness.” This idea about firmness made me think of another Whiting Judge, Judge William J. Obermiller, a.k.a. “The Spanking Judge.”

Judge Obermiller was born in Whiting in 1924, the son of a refinery worker. He later graduated with a law degree from the University of Notre Dame. During World War II and again during the Korean War, Obermiller served in the U.S. Navy as a special agent in naval intelligence. In addition to practicing law, he was a community relations representative for Standard Oil, as well as, an instructor of law in the Calumet Region for several years.

In 1959, Obermiller ran his own kind of campaign for Whiting’s City Judge. He ignored orthodox political methods and stayed away from party lines. Obermiller spread his message and mission to anyone who would listen. He felt that a breakdown of family discipline was the principal cause of juvenile delinquency. “Don’t blame the kids entirely. Youngsters wouldn’t get into the jams they’re in if we parents practiced our religious precepts.” He went on to pledge, if elected, to go back to fundamentals. Obermiller went on to upset, George Pate, a well-known figure who had served as municipal judge for 12 years.

The 35-year-old city judge stated that one of his goals as Whiting’s new judge was to make it easier for families of arrested men. Obermiller wanted to ensure that offenders did not loose a day’s pay to appear before the court. According to a December 6, 1959 Times article, “Fining a man for an offense is hard enough on the entire family. Making him lose a day’s pay to appear in court increases the family’s hardship.”

Judge Obermiller first received attention for his old-fashioned concepts of civic responsibility and his unorthodox style of sentencing in 1962. On this particular day four boys appeared before him in the courtroom. The boys were charged with fighting, hit-and-run with a borrowed car, and public intoxication. One of the boys leaned on the bench, pulled out a roll of cash, and spoke harshly to Judge Obermiller, “Here’s your money . . . how much you want?” Obermiller stopped the boy and said that all of the boys needed to appear the following week with their parents. The following week the same rowdy group appeared before the Judge this time with their parents. When the mother of one of the boys tried to apologize for her son’s rude behavior, the boy told her to “Shut Up!” What happened next startled all in attendance.

Obermiller asked how long since this boy had been spanked? The boy’s parents responded that he had never been spanked. Judge Obermiller replied, “Well, perhaps if you had, he wouldn’t be here today. So we will give him a new experience, one that would have helped him a great deal, years ago.” Obermiller then ordered the bailiff to turn the boy over his desk, bottom-up and give him fifteen hard spanks. The four boys on trial answered questions respectfully the rest of the evening. Obermiller’s stout whackings were given with consent from the boys’ parents.

In Obermiller’s first two years as City Judge, eight juveniles had been spanked in his court, all for insolence and lack of respect to their parents or the law. But, Obermiller’s unique methods did not stop there. He began to assess fines, not in dollars, but in terms of hours and days of community service. Obermiller began to sentence violators to clean up Whiting’s beach, sometimes ordering fathers’ to work alongside their sons. But, Judge Obermiller stated that the work detail would not have had the proper force or achieved the proper results if he had not worked right along with the juveniles. He said that he had to not only boss the job but also to instill pride of accomplishment in the youths. On another occasion the judge sentenced a group of youngsters, who were charged repeatedly by the police for shooting off fireworks, to repair and repaint the iron fence surrounding the Whiting Public Library.

After seeing that painting the fence outside of the library worked, Judge Obermiller stated why not go inside. As a way to address Whiting’s problem of reckless traffic violations the judge required the violators to copy the Indiana State Drivers’ Manual neatly and free of any errors. Afterwards, each individual had to take an examination and if they failed they had to redo the entire process. Other times Obermiller had youthful gangs serve time at the library reading about their country’s history and then writing 20 page essays. Judge Obermiller’s unorthodox style did not stop just with juveniles though. He also ordered adult speeders to write “I will not speed,” 5,000 times. On one particular night a group of defiant youths entered Obermiller’s courtroom after being arrested for drinking at the public beach. These eight boys, while on trial, started to put a show on for a cluster of their young friends sitting in the audience. Judge Obermiller halted the proceedings and declared that the defendants were not prepared for trial. He ordered the bailiff to escort the youth across the street to the barber. Across the street, two barbers started snipping to the judge’s specifications, “Make ‘em short, Make ‘em GI style.” After the spontaneous haircuts were completed, Judge Obermiller passed out sentencing. Instead of sending the boys to reform school, Obermiller required that the boys give up the leather coats and duck style haircut and study hard in school. In this and almost every juvenile case that appeared before the judge, the students stayed out of trouble and their grades gradually improved.

Whiting’s strong arm of the law quickly gained nationwide attention. Judge Obermiller’s unique brand of justice began to hit the news wire not only around the state and the Midwest, but across the country, and even in some news outlets internationally. The national publication Reader’s Digest even wrote a piece about Obermiller. However, Obermiller never set out to become a celebrity. His motives were always pure. He wanted to create better citizens and a better community.

There definitely was a method to Obermiller’s madness. Obermiller knew that a juvenile would only be put on the police department’s permanent record if they were ordered to pay a fine or spend any time in jail or a reformatory. The judge did not want to see these youth’s irresponsible actions put down in indelible ink haunting them the rest of their lives. Obermiller stated that there is no place on a police blotter for cleaning beaches or painting a library fence. Judge Obermiller stated that he did not want to ruin the reputation of any youngster but to impress upon them that there is absolutely no glamour in trouble.

Obermiller served the citizens of Whiting for 36 years, only the seventh judge in the history of Whiting. He appeared in numerous publications both locally and nationally. At one point he was even flown to Hollywood to film a tapping of CBS’s “Who in the World” with Warren Hull. Judge Obermiller passed away on August 15, 2000 at the age of 77.