IT'S A PURITAN NATION AFTER ALL:

Ain't That a Shame? (ERIC FELTEN , 11/05/10, WSJ)

America has a long (and many have argued, shameful) history of shaming. Things got going in earnest in 1639 when Plymouth colonist Mary Mendame was found to have committed "the act of uncleannesse" with an Indian named Tinsin. The judge sentenced her "to be whipt at a carte tayle through the townes streete, and to weare a badge upon her left sleeve." And if the proto-Prynne failed to wear her scarlet letter, she was "to be burned in the face with a hott iron."

Today, the tradition lives on. Several northeastern states "name and shame"—usually by means of online lists—citizens behind on their taxes. For some officials, though, even that approach is too discreet. Last Sunday, the city of Holyoke, Mass., publicized the names of delinquent taxpayers in the local newspaper. The goal, explained City Treasurer Jon D. Lumbra, was to shame those people into paying what they owed. (Mr. Lumbra did not say whether the city will seek to have the scofflaws wear a scarlet "T.")

Such efforts are ham-fisted. The advocates of bringing social pressure to bear on modern ne'er-do-wells generally push for more subtle forms of public pressure. Earlier this year, the District of Columbia instituted a tax on disposable shopping bags. Supermarkets in Washington now charge five cents for every plastic bag, and you have to specifically request one. But the expected revenues have not materialized because the number of bags used by shoppers has plummeted. Environmental advocates are delighted, but note that the the tax alone can't account for the dramatic drop in revenues. It's unlikely that the average Washingtonian is deterred by the small tax incurred on a dozen bags when paying a $300 grocery bill. They argue that shaming gets the credit. Shoppers are hesitant to expose their lack of eco-virtue to the withering stares of the good citizens behind them in the checkout line. As Councilman Tommy Wells, the District's prime bag-tax cheerleader, recently told the Journal, "It's more important to get in their heads than in their pocketbooks."

When it comes to the criminal code, shaming can be a lot cheaper than incarceration. The last decade saw something of a fad for shame-based punishments, among them fitting "humility tags" to the the cars of convicted drunk drivers, and making petty thieves wear signs proclaiming their offenses. The "communitarian" thinkers behind shaming argue that the practice not only encourages public decency but allows society to make unambiguous moral statements about what behaviors are beyond the pale.