Case Study Essay CRIM 5000: Ethics and Decision Making in Criminal Justice

· 6-10-page essay double spaced (not including bibliography)

· 12pt font, Times New Roman

· 1” margins

· Page numbers on the bottom, right-hand side of each page

· Your last name in the footer (with the page number)

· The title of your paper in the header (appearing on every page except the first)

A Choice of Punishments

Pat is a seventeen-year-old high school junior with nothing to do during the summer. No job, no summer school, no camps, nothing. For some reason, public summer programs for youths like Pat are very scarce or nonexistent. It is the Fourth ofJuly, hot, and Pat is looking for some diversion. Pat's friend, Al Schultz, comes by in his antique pick-up truck that he has spent the last six months rebuilding, and he invites Pat to a party that he will be attending at a friend's apartment in the project. The friend's parents are away for the day. Although Al is a few months older than Pat and dropped out of high school, he always seems to have money-not much, but some. Al tells Pat that he has to go by the grocery store to pick up a case of beer and also get some gas. Pat is impressed until Al drives up to a two-pump Quick Stop, parks beside a car that is filling up so he cannot be seen by the cashier, fills up, then jumps in the truck and drives off. The attendant made the mistake of letting the pump run without being able to see the vehicle being filled up. Pat is not too happy with this, but it was so slick, the way he edged up to the pumps behind the other automobile, that there seems to be little danger of getting caught. Next, Al drives to a grocery store for beer. He parks at the corner of the building, out of sight of the cashiers in the store, and asks Pat to watch the truck because he wants to leave the motor running. "Sometimes it is hard to start when it is hot," explains Al. Pat waits patiently, and in a few minutes Al comes out the door of the grocery with a case of beer and drives off. Apparently, Al legitimately purchased a case of beer and Pat will be able to share it with him at the party. "Good friend, old Al," Pat mutters to himself. The next day Pat's mother tells him there is a police officer at the door with a warrant for his arrest. Not only did the Quick Stop clerk get a description and partial license plate number, but the manager of the grocery store followed Al and got the full tag number as well as a description of the occupants of the truck. Al has already been arrested and identified Pat as his companion. In their state, accessories to misdemeanors are 126 Ethics and Juvenile Justice 127 treated as principals, and Pat is one. Pat tells the police officers he was only a passenger. Yes, he helped drink the beer. All right, he rode in a truck with gas he knew was stolen, and he sat in the car when Al left it running to go get the beer, but he did not do anything illegal himselfand he had no knowledge that the beer had been stolen. After his conversation with the investigating officers, he is taken to the police station, booked for two counts of petty larceny, and released to his mother's custody. He is to appear in city court to answer to the charges a week from Monday at 9:00 AM. Pat finally talks to Al, who apologizes for implicating him but says, "I had no choice." Al suggests that Pat and he leave the state since the police will not come after them in another state just for a misdemeanor. Pat thinks about it, but he is in enough trouble as it is, and running away would not help anything. Pat had been into some vandalism once before and a couple of incidents of shoplifting, and nothing had happened other than he had to make restitution, so he decides to go to court and take his chances. Judge Ward, the city judge, has recently been elected to his post. He is a retired FBI agent who ran on a platform of "getting tough on crime." Judge Ward has been said to not have allowed the phrase, "not guilty," to pass his lips since elected. Hard, fair, incorruptible, and knowledgeable, Judge Ward is about to introduce Pat to a new experience. "I find you guilty," thundered Judge Ward. This was the worst day of Pat's life. The judge said he would defer sentencing until he received a r~port from the case worker. In the meantime, the case worker would interview Pat, his family, and some friends before making a recommendation to the judge. Pat could be looking at six months in jail, a $500 fine, restitution, community service, and maybe more. He cannot believe all this happened because he hooked up with Al on the Fourth of]uly. Pat decides to visit the public defender's office. Although public defenders in his state are required only to deal with felony cases, Pat hopes that maybe he can get some advice. A legal intern in the public defender's office tells him honesty is the best policy, and to cooperate with the case worker. He finds out that the case worker functions also as a probation officer. He does not trust this intern's advice. "Say nothing, it is your constitutional right," says Al. After an uncooperative interview, Pat received a summons to Judge Ward's chambers. The case worker is there, too, and his report is thorough. It touches on Pat's past arrests, his uncooperativeness, and his denial of guilt. Judge Ward has a number of options: the fine, jail time, restitution probation, public service, or a new military-style training program designed to motivate and teach young offenders respect for authority. This is a federally sponsored program located on a nearby National Guard base. What would you do if you were Judge Ward? 128 Section Four QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION 1. A "short, sharp shock" may sometimes be an effective deterrent, but is incarceration for minor offenses a cost-effective method of punishment from either an economic or a social point of view? What corrective measures are most likely to instill a sense of responsibility in this youthful offender? You have read the options. What do you think is the most effective way to adjudicate this case, and why? What would you hope for if you were the seventeen-year-old? If you were the seventeen-year-old's parents? 2. If Pat had no knowledge of the crime of stealing the beer, is he legally culpable? Is he morally culpable in some way? What should he do? 3. What corrective measures are most likely to install a sense of personal responsibility and moral awareness in this youthful offender?