an interesting idea

Heh thanks, had this one bouncing around in my head for a while.

you act like a jackass you serve time as an ass

It's a very curious idea. I like it. Mind if I steal it a little bit for a roleplay idea with some friendos?

Heh thanks very much, been thinking of unusual TF circumstances lately~

Feel free to use as much of the idea as you want ^^

Sweeeeeeetttttttt

seems fun

Depends on your perspective ^^;

That one is certainly interesting, playing with social hierarchy themes~

I love his expression.

More donk = More annoyance ^^

Very interesting idea. Would have to be careful though as some people may break the law on purpose then, but then again, you could make them something they don't want to be then.

They'd certainly have to crack down on that, yeah. They'd probably turn animal tf fans into a sea sponge or something!

...I actually would love a sea sponge TF

Haha! The warden's gonna have a hard time finding a suitable "punishment form " for you. X3

Pretty cool concept, you will make more? XD

Oh for sure, I've got more ideas for TF prison heh ^^

Not sure if you want suggestions... but how about a Paris Hilton like character?
Famous people can also end in jail... or the barnyard...! XD

I can see something like that working, I got a lot on the plate right now but I'll keep that in the ol' idea vault~!

A vualt... I use a book for ideas... the infinite book!

Hmm, would be a tricky call on which'd be worse... Early 20th century prisons were incredibly appalling, but they'd probably still edge out laboring as an animal in the salt mines.

'sides, there tends to be enough difficulty rejoining civil society after time in a traditional human prison: I can't imagine how tricky it'd be after years of being literally dehumanized.

Oh for sure, it'd be an entirely different version of cruel and unusual punishment. Yeah, not only do you have to try and get a job and be a productive human but you'd also have to get used to being back in a human body after do much time!

Big time. Especially without any sort of program to help one reacclimate (which there likely wouldn't be), I'd imagine recidivism rates even worse than they are today.

There's just so much involved with remembering how to be a person, entirely separate from trying to adjust to what may be a completely unfamiliar city, in many cases knowing nobody and/or otherwise needing to manage the usual difficulties of homelessness, marshaling what little money one's given, dealing with the stigma of being a former prisoner* (most specifically in job-hunting**), the emotional weight of so few people understanding what you've been through, and meeting probationary requirements to keep from ending up right back on all-fours.

* Likely easier to spot and exacerbated in this context by some of the sorts of tics and tendencies in someone who's done time as an animal. E.g. accidental braying, as you noted.
** Granted, there could be occupations where traits common in former donkeys make them valued, but they're not likely to be great jobs and have a decent shot of being exploitative. Or outright criminal.

Sidebar: How would a transformed prisoner be able to meet with an attorney to discuss terms?

So, yeah, lot of interesting possibilities in the idea of yours. ^_^ Plenty in the broader world, too. It feels like the sort of procedure that would, in time, hopefully fall out of favor like prefrontal lobotomies or electroconvulsive therapy. Perhaps the route of the penal treadmill might be a more direct analogy?

That's for sure, as bad as modern prisons are we at least have some... attempts to rehabilitate. Only in the past couple decades did we even start considering the idea of rehabilitating criminals instead of throwing them into some backbreaking labour purely for the purpose of punishment.

Of course, all the normal issues of jumping right back into civil society would still reign true. No doubt the overwhelming psychological issues would only be exacerbated by suddenly being back on two feet as opposed to four hooves. I can imagine all sorts of animalistic tendencies that would filter through for years after the sentence; minor things of course but definitely noticeable, and definitely an indication of time served in this world. If he is forced back onto the wrong side of the law there's no telling what they might turn him into next time. Back-breaking labour as a beast of burden may not actually be the worst sentence...

Luckily, they haven't had their gift of speech revoked but he's still fully capable of any vocalization a donkey would make. So, he'd still be able to have a talk with his attorney... it'd probably just be woven with a variety of unintentional brays and snorts.

It certainly would be lovely if they halted this punishment in more enlightened years but who knows... maybe Willard's country is more on track to becoming an autocratic dystopia than an egalitarian democracy over the next century...