Apparently South Carolina Circuit Judge Frank Eppes, 72, wasn’t in need of his belt on Friday, Sept. 22. While passing down sentence in a crack cocaine possession case, the judge willingly gave it up, but was proper enough to ask permission first.

“I said, ‘Grandmama, don’t you think he needs a whipping?'” Eppes asked of his 18-year-old defendant’s grandmother.

Grandma thought so.

So the judge “borrowed” Victoria Washington Ellis his belt and sent her, her grandson and a courtroom deputy into his office. After the prosecutor heard “10 to 12 loud smacks” directed at Jamel Washington’s bare buttocks, the trio returned.

Grandma was satisfied.

“It learned him a lesson,” she said. “He said he ain’t fooling with that no more.”

The judge, too, was pleased with himself. He said he’s always wanted to pass a similar sentence.

“I’ve seen a lot of people that need a whipping,” Eppes said.

That may be true. America certainly houses “a lot of people” that are indeed “in need of a whipping,” but coming back from La La Land, we say: Get a clue!

Not so long ago Americans were in an uproar because one of our own was sentenced to 10 strokes with a cane in Singapore. Judge Eppes was evidently not one of those enraged.

Whether Jamel Washington “needed a whipping” really isn’t the issue. Under no circumstances should a court-appointed official direct a parent or guardian to beat anyone, much less provide the means and place to carry it out.

Bad judge. Bad, bad judge. Let’s try glancing at the Constitution next time.