Program offers students second chance
CALIFORNIA – A local district justice believes in giving students a second chance. Working so close to a university, District Justice William Pelkey of California handles his share of cases involving underage drinking – but he says he tries to give students a chance to keep their record clean by educating them on the consequences of violating laws, especially underage drinking and drinking and driving.
“I want to give them an opportunity to clear their record,” he said. “I want to make them aware of the consequences. These are our future doctors, lawyers, scientists and teachers, and they need to know that many professions and the military reject people with alcohol violations.”
Pelkey said anyone under age 21 could be charged with an underage drinking offense if they are caught purchasing, in possession of or transporting alcoholic beverages. Consequently, if a person under 21 were caught at a party where there was alcohol, that person could be charged with violating the underage drinking law, even if that person were not drinking, he said.
“I’ve seen it happen, and it just doesn’t seem fair,” Pelkey said.
So, Pelkey gives first-time underage drinking offenders the opportunity to write term papers on underage drinking and drinking and driving issues, instead of losing their license and facing up to $400 in fines.
Pelkey said he may impose a fine, but the amount is based on the quality of the term paper – the better the paper, the less the fine. He said first-time underage drinkers who face additional charges such as disorderly conduct or criminal mischief are not given the opportunity to participate in his program.
Pelkey said his program also saves students time and money through reduced fines and travel expenses, because young adults in the California area charged with underage-drinking violations are required to attend an underage-drinking program in the city of Washington.
According to Amanda Cario, DUI intervention specialist and underage-drinking program coordinator at the Southwestern Pennsylvania Human Services (SPHS) CARE Center, in Washington County, underage drinking violators must complete 121/2 of hours class time, pay reduced ($80) fines and go before their local district justice, who is likely to suspend their license. She said the program is geared toward educating and changing attitudes toward drinking, especially drinking and driving.
Pelkey said California University students often are from out of town and don’t have transportation to Washington or the time or money to invest in travel and classes, another reason he came up with his program.
“College students always need money and they need their time, too, not to drink – but to study and prepare for examinations. Some of these (Cal U) students don’t even know where Washington is, nor do they have transportation to get there,” Pelkey said.
Pelkey has received letters from parents of students who have violated underage drinking laws, thanking him for saving them money and teaching their children a valuable lesson.
He said the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Enforcement (PLCB) agency approves of his program, which he said is equal or better than the program at CARE.
“They think it’s the best thing since ice cream,” he said.
Pelkey said young adults who have written term papers for him learn their lesson and rarely are second-time offenders.
He said if a second-time offender would cross his path again, he would be very strict, with fines of up to $500 and a definite loss of license.
By law, he said, he could even sentence the offender to 90 days in jail.
For subsequent offenses, Pelkey said he would fine offenders up to $1,000 and suspend their licenses for two years, and he could sentence them to jail.
“Very few come back. It’s an extreme minimum. There is no excuse for a repeat offense. They can’t say they didn’t know any better because they put it right in their paper,” he said.
Pelkey has a whole collection of term papers written over the years.
“As you can see, I do a lot of reading,” he said as he leafed through a pile of term papers, complete with bibliographies.
Pelkey said he can tell by the papers written that most violators have learned valuable lessons from their mistakes.
While some papers are very well researched, including statistics and graphs, some draw on personal experiences.
Pelkey said one student wrote a paper on his personal losses as a result of drinking.
The boy talked about how he lost his baseball scholarship after an injury caused from playing basketball while drinking. The boy hurt his shoulder and lost a 92-mph fastball.
He also said he also lost his girlfriend, who didn’t approve of his drinking habits.
Pelkey said his program allows him to develop a “more cohesive relationship” with students and the young adults of the community, which he thinks is important.
He said the program makes young adults, who just made a mistake, feel less of a criminal and more of a person who is righting a wrong, something he says is important for young people.
“Rather than make (young adults) a detriment to society, my job is to make them productive in society,” he said.
“My program works, and it’s good. It’s better to have them sit in the library than on a barstool.”