Assignment:
Discussion 1
Select and post your response to ONE situation from any chapter that interests you the most.
1. You are a police officer who encounters several juveniles trying to steal a 12-pack of beer from some other juveniles, who have just bought the beer from a nearby liquor store. You break up the disturbance with the help of your partner, and now must decide what to do. The group of juveniles who tried to steal the beer did not hurt the others in any way and were apparently just after the beer. Nonetheless, the other kids are angry and resentful. Both groups are obviously too young to drink alcohol. Both groups are known to be occasionally truant, but they have no record and are not known drug users. Furthermore, the liquor store owner is known to sell both beer and hard liquor to minors, although this is the first time you have caught juveniles right as they leave his store.
2. Questions to discuss in your three paragraph posting are:
o How do you handle the juveniles who tried to steal the beer? Do you punish them for attempted robbery, for possession of alcohol, for both, or for neither?
o How do you handle the juveniles who just bought the beer? Do they have rights as victims?
o How do you handle the liquor store owner, who is the only one in his store at this time and who was clearly the one who sold them the beer?
o Which law enforcement approach do you think is best in this case: legalistic, watchman, or service? Would you treat the three different groups differently in any way (for instance, a watchman approach to the juveniles and a legalistic approach to the store owner)? If so, how?
1. Using the Internet, look up the cases of Kent v. United States, In re Gault and In re Winship. Write down approximately one paragraph of biological information about each juvenile, including where each is now. Then answer the following questions:
o Whom did you find the most sympathetic?
o Could you see yourself in the same position s any of these juveniles?
o If you were a police officer who was dealing with all three of them, would you consider any of them to be worth rehabilitating? Why or why not?
Discussion 2
Select and post your response to ONE situation from any chapter that interests you the most.
1. Read "The Color of Justice" at the Building Blocks for Youth web site. The article may be found by clicking on "research" on the left of the screen.
2. Read the press release, then answer the following questions:
o Why do more African-American and Hispanic juveniles get waived to adult court?
o What are the rates at which different racial and ethnic groups are waived to adult court?
o Is there an explanation or partial explanation for this other than racism, or does it appear to be solely the cause of racism?
1. Interview two or three of your friends, and give them the following hypothetical case:
o You are a prosecutor who has just been given a juvenile murder case. The delinquent is a first-time offender, but has had trouble in school for years. He is a 15-year old who has murdered a 12-year old boy from his neighborhood. The murder was excessively violent and gruesome, but he does not appear remorseful for his crime. Not surprisingly, there is public pressure to punish him severely. The murderer is of small stature and immature emotional development. He was born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and appears to have several learning disabilities.
2. You have the following options:
o prosecute him through the juvenile court system, which in your state will release him on his 19th birthday;
o waive him to adult court, which would net a longer sentence but would subject him to incarceration with adults at an early age; or
o opt for blended sentencing.
o Which is best for an offender like this?
o Summarize your friends' opinions and reasons as well as your own. Your posting should be at least two paragraphs long.
Discussion 3
Select and post your response to ONE situation from any chapter that interests you the most.
1. Visit the web site for the International Institute for Restorative Practices and review the past eForum articles. Read any one of the selections that deals with the implementation of restorative justice (Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ)). (You cannot select an article related to a conference.) You are looking for actual practical applications of the theory of restorative justice. Answer the following questions in a two paragraph posting:
o How does restorative justice appear to work in this case?
o What are the benefits of using restorative justice instead of sanctions?
o What are possible or apparent drawbacks?
1. Go to the Texas Youth Commision web site and read the Basic Correctional Treatment and Specialized Correctional Treatment?
2. Explain how and why these approaches are different. Do these approaches seem successful? Why or why not?