Repeat offenders narrowly avoid jail time

Where only first names appear, names have been changed to protect the identities of the sources.

Tom, a senior, has to take urine tests twice a week. He has to call his officer when he arrives at school, leaves for work and goes to sleep at night. He must attend countless drug education classes and be home by 9:30 p.m. every evening. He is in constant contact with an officer because he is on probation but at least he's not in jail.

Tom was sentenced to a year of probation when he was charged for the possession of marijuana and a deadly weapon. Drug and weapon possession along with theft and assault related crimes, are the two most common offenses juveniles commit, according to Adam Cohen, an attorney at the Cohen Law Firm in Baltimore, who deals with juvenile clients. Like Tom, minor offenders usually receive only probation or other correctional programs for their first few offenses, says Cohen. However, Cohen adds, continued and serious offenses could place juveniles behind bars.

In the holding cell

David, a senior, was arrested last January for the third time. "My friend stole a car, and then he picked me up. He was riding around breaking car windows," David says. David was charged for unauthorized use of a vehicle and for resisting arrest.

At a holding center in Rockville, David spent the night on the wooden bunk bed in his cell, unable to sleep. "I was scared. They don't give you anything to eat and you have no privacy," he says. He didn't know what to expect the next day.

About one year ago, Tom was driving when the police pulled him over to the side of the road. Though he was pulled over because his tail lights were out, the police spotted marijuana paraphernalia in an ashtray in his car, and put him in handcuffs. The police patted him down as they searched for more drugs, when they discovered a knife on him. They transported him to a Silver Spring police department holding center, where, at the age of 16, Tom was finger-printed, photographed, strip-searched and placed in a holding cell. He was released to his parents about six hours later and awaited his trial that would determine his punishment.

The possibility of spending more than a few hours hand-cuffed and locked up soon became a reality for Tom, as he realized it was his third offense and that he wouldn't be a minor for much longer. "I thought I was going to jail at that point," Tom says.

Facing the law

Both Tom and David paid for their own lawyers, which they agree have an advantage over a public defender in a court case. While public defenders, according to Cohen, "truly know the tendencies of the judges and are very familiar with the juvenile court system," they often have tremendous case loads and therefore can only do their best under those circumstances. Private attorneys on the other hand, can afford to give the case an extensive amount of time and attention.

David says that he benefited from hiring a private lawyer to defend his case as opposed to a public defender. He was required to fulfill community service time, the minimal punishment for his offense.

Tom suggests that juvenile offenses are not punished severely. He describes a recent juvenile case to which a 15-year-old received five years of jail time for committing murder. He disagrees with the argument that minors are not fully aware of their actions, and that they should therefore serve shorter sentences. "I knew what I was doing. I kept doing it because I didn't really care. All I was going to get was a slap on the wrist," Tom says.

Juveniles receive lesser sentences for offenses than they would receive if they were over 18, according to Rebekah Tennant, who works in the Family Crimes Division of the Montgomery County police department in the Juvenile Case Screening Unit. "The juvenile court system is set up to do more rehabilitation than just plain incarceration," she says.

Cohen also agrees, adding that the judges take into serious consideration the health and the well being of the juvenile, which usually means sentencing the juvenile to rehabilitation rather than jail time. "It's a downward spiral at a detention center. You are taken away from your family, and you are surrounded by kids who have committed crimes like you," Cohen says. For juveniles, officials "try to give the offender a chance to learn from their mistakes."

Fixing faults

For Tom, however, going to jail became a real possibility because of all his previous charges. He only received one year of supervised probation, among other rehabilitation programs. Probation involves his constant contact with a probation officer once he arrives at school, his home, his work facility and night school. Once Tom notifies an officer that he is home, the officer calls back every 30 minutes to make sure he remains in his home until he leaves the next morning.

If juveniles disobey their probation officers, there can be additional consequences, says Cohen. Juveniles may be required to appear before a judge, who can then further restrict their freedom or decide that juvenile rehabilitation isn't effective enough and send them to a detention center. House arrest is another possibility. Bracelets around the offenders' ankle alert their probation officers when they leave their homes, according to Cohen.

Changing their ways

Tom considers himself lucky for not ending up in jail. He remembers spending time in the holding cell when he was first arrested thinking, "I can't be in a jail cell locked up like a dog. It's not a good place to be," he says. Doing jail time would have greatly affected his future. "It would have messed up everything. I wouldn't be able graduate and it would have kept me from my dreams. When I would get out, I would have nothing," Tom says.

While juveniles such as Tom and David haven't served jail time for their offenses, their offenses will remain on their records. "When you are applying for a job, you have to write down if you've been convicted before. I have to say yes," David says.

Still, David believes that the consequences of his offenses were necessary because they have allowed him to make better decisions. "I don't want to get into trouble again. It's too much trouble, too much time, too much money, and it's all not worth it," David says.

Tom agrees that the judge chose an appropriate punishment for his illegal actions also. "I think the judge made me go through all this because I am turning 18 soon, and he wants me to realize I'll be an adult and that this is not a game anymore," Tom says.

Once juveniles turn 18, they are charged as adults, which means they would face jail time for breaking the law and a possible death sentence for committing a murder, says Tennant. Therefore, Tennant insists, once juveniles are 18, there are no second and third chances, and there isn't a detention center, there are only adult prisons where an offender serves time behind bars.

It has been exactly a year on Jan. 4, 2005 since Tom committed his last offense, so his probation sentence is over. "After today, they stop calling me," he says, smiling. Still, he says the experience keeps him responsible because it makes him realize when his friends are doing something stupid. "I tell them they're too grown for that."