Discipline Going Too Far

Okay, I'm not going to start telling people how they should discipline their kids.  I'm not against spanking, time outs, or grounding.  I think every family is different and every child is different.  I do have advice based on books I've read and Nanny 911.
I just watched a video online from some news people on a family court judge who beat his daughter.  His teenage disabled daughter nonetheless.  She's an adult now and she released the video.  I'm not sure why she did this.  The judge apparently caught her stealing media online.  He spanked her with a belt.  Now, like I said, every family has different needs.  However, watching the video, this father did go way too far.
It is NEVER okay to punish your children out of anger.  Seriously.
Now, I know that I've done it.  I've gotten fed up with my son and put him in time-out only to realize that I was out of line.  It's tough being a parent.  People in general get angry with each other, so it's understandable that even the most patient person has a line when it comes to children.  However, the smartest thing to do is to tell your child, "We will deal with this." and go calm down.
Then, once you are calm and everything makes sense in your head, you can go back and use whatever punishment you think is necessary so long as you really are not abusing your child.
The reason this makes me so angry is that this person is supposed to help families come together, help protect children, and be an example.  He's being an example alright... a very bad example.
Mind you, I don't know this person from Adam.  I don't know if the child is very strong-willed like I was.  However, if I ever caught my son stealing online (or doing something else against the rules of my household), then he will be grounded, he will have his license taken away, and he will lose all screen privileges.  He would also get one of my famous "talking-to's" that he already avoids when he's about to get into trouble.  Oh, and I would make him turn himself in.  I'm sure a normal judge would be more than happy to make a teenager do lots of community service.  Maybe an overnight in a jail cell would scare him as well.  However, I would not do this out of anger.  I would do this to show him that there are consequences and at 16, lots of those consequences won't be coming from me.
Of course, we'll have to see how things really are when my son is 16.  However, I can promise that I will try my hardest not to let my emotions get involved.