WEST VIRGINIA RECORD

Made of silver or gold or other precious metals and sometimes adorned with charms, beads, and gems, ankle bracelets are a popular fashion accessory -- and a perfect gift idea for Mom on Mother's Day.

For Dad on Father's Day, you may want to stick with the traditional necktie. Ankle bracelets just are not popular with men.

Joshua Robinson can testify about the male aversion to anklets. He says the one he wore for several months chafed and scarred his ankle, causing an infection that necessitated surgery.

Despite the discomfort, Robinson kept wearing the irritating anklet, but only because he had to. It was a mandatory gift from the Kanawha County criminal justice system.

Robinson had been sentenced to house arrest. Though not exactly stylish, his bracelet was equipped with an electronic device to notify police if he left the confines of his home.

Robinson is, for the moment, an attorney in Charleston. In December 2009, when a client had the temerity to inquire about funds missing from his grandfather's estate, Robinson beat the man with a baseball bat.

Robinson was indicted on charges of malicious wounding, unlawful wounding, obstructing, and embezzlement. In exchange for dismissal of the other counts, he pled guilty to unlawful wounding and was subsequently sentenced to a period of 1-5 years of home confinement.

Following his indictment, the state Supreme Court ordered the immediate suspension of Robinson's law license. After his guilty plea, the Lawyer Disciplinary Board returned a statement of charges against him seeking his disbarment.

You'd think, at this point, Robinson would want to go somewhere and hide out.

Instead, he's filed suit in Circuit Court against the Kanawha County Commission for the personal injury done to him by the ankle bracelet.

Maybe if he'd had a better sense of personal ethics –- not to mention personal hygiene -– he'd have avoided the personal injury.