Now, I know that Kazaa sucks...

It seems to me that two assumptions are going unstated:

• That being shot in the head with a firearm is a harsh consequence to looking at somebody funny
• That being struck with a belt is a harsh consequence for downloading music from Kazaa

Even after wading through the unnecessary sarcasm, it is not clear what the contested issue is. It may be the case that corporeal punishment of a child for any offense is inexcusable versus the view that corporeal punishment of a child is at times acceptable. If this is the basis of the disagreement, then the two of you might as well part ways because it becomes a case of "my morals are superior to your morals" and we get into the same situation we get in when people argue religion.

Now you get to digest my view: sometimes people just need to get beat. Men, women, and children. There are occasions where somebody just has it coming. One of the Young Turks says as much when he champions the prison culture as an acceptable consequence to the judge.
If you boil the confrontation down to "downloading music equals getting beat," then obviously this judge is bad news, but that simplifies the situation too much. The misbehavior (probably) isn't the downloading of the music, it is the disobedience of the child who was (presumably) made aware of the expectations and the consequences for not meeting them. To some extent, the child should be expected to bear the responsibility for deliberately defying the parents' guidelines.
"I see you got a leaden ball facelift. You must have looked at Dark Elf funny." The moral becomes "Don't do unnecessary things that make you suffer".
Consider how this scenario might have gone. The father tells his daughter that if she downloads music, she'll get the belt. She downloads music, he finds out, confronts her to administer her punishment, she cooperates and takes a couple of licks from the belt, and life goes on. If the daughter had cooperated as her mother suggested, this video might not have been the spectacle it has become. The daughter's resistance aggravated the situation and contributed to making it the situation to which we've been exposed. If the judge treats his daughter like this on the regular, then that's awful. What we have seen is a shocking situation that multiple people have created.
This video has become a spectacle. The shocking event has been sensationalized with words like "judge," "beats," and "palsy." I don't understand the relevance of the man's profession or his daughter's handicap. While "beats" is an apt description of what he does, a less sensationalized verb could have been used to describe the clip. "Beats" prejudices the viewer even before he sees what he sees.

I feel that the appropriate reaction to this video is "This is fucked up," not "This man is evil." This video was disturbing and I didn't even watch the entire clip included in The Young Turks video because it made me too uncomfortable. I do not like this and I think that the situation warrants serious investigation.

Be responsible and respectful; consider as many of the angles as you can rather than lay into somebody for not seeing things the way you see them, not that I don't appreciate the occasional "assclown."

 

She was downloading music, but if you watch the original video, this belt whipping and debasement goes on for over 7 minutes. She was using the internet without permission, and that's why her dad beat her. There is no indication that she actually knew she would be beaten, and she does say she's sorry-to her mother. She doesn't understand why her dad is about to beat her, and then bam. Her dad actually says she used to be a "nice little girl" and now she's a teenager that doesn't want to listen all the time, and that's why he has to beat the crap out of her.

 

Seven minutes is an excessively long session. Even 30 seconds of corporeal punishment is more than long enough.

This is a pity. I had hoped that this man was a responsible parent and his unpopular disciplinary methods were blown out of proportion.

 

I'm still convinced that corporal punishment works, but this guy is clearly doing it wrong.

 

I got further information, and at around the time the video was taken, Judge Williams had made a statement that the child's testimony isn't what matters in a case of child abuse; it's video evidence. Apparently he was prone to beating his kids, and his daughter set up that camera because something would eventually happen and she wanted to be able to show people. Of course, given what I now actually know, it makes it harder to believe she didn't actually instigate the beating, but regardless, that was stupidly excessive. I mean, maybe a stern talking to and like...a spanking? I dunno. never had to discipline a kid. But I definitely wouldn't leave and then come back to lambaste and beat my daughter some more.
Still, no charges are being pressed against him, and I'm pretty sure he's still a judge. I just hope if some 16 year old is getting beaten by their parents and they have to stand before him, they've got the wherewithal to own a digital camera and leave it on 24 seven in the place they're most likely to be assaulted. You know, even though video evidence of abuse isn't viable evidence unless the people being recorded can be proven to be the ones currently at trial (and not actors).