Flyer

Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: News

Media Credit: blinn.edu

When three residents of Lewis' North Hall hurled threatening racial remarks to other campus residents, they may not have considered that they could be arrested. On April 16, the three students were taken into custody by the Romeoville Police Department. They are barred from the Lewis campus pending on a student judicial hearing.

Do students understand the legal consequences of being involved in criminal activity?

Troy Kelm, a University of Wisconsin-Madison student, was charged on April 4 with three felony drug delivery counts and one misdemeanor count of marijuana possession. Kelm was arrested in connection with the death of freshman Luke Murphy, found dead in his girlfriend's dorm room from an alleged lethal combination of alcohol and the drug Suboxone, a drug not prescribed to him. Kelm sold Murphy half of one Subaxone pill for $5, according to the criminal complaint.

Kelm faces up to 27 years in prison, fines that may total up to $71,000 and a maximum 20-year suspension of his driver's license if convicted.

Students convicted of a crime may experience consequences of their involvement with the criminal justice system for many years, and in some cases, the rest of their lives, following their conviction. These collateral consequences include limits on educational loans, restrictions on voting rights, limited access to firearms and restrictions on employment opportunities.

Crime data collected by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation's (F.B.I.) reports that during 2007 in Illinois, 157,018 persons were arrested; 34,250 were under the age of 18 at the time of their arrest.

All crimes in Illinois are defined by statutes collected and organized into books of rules known as the Illinois State Criminal Code, which applies only in Illinois. The federal government has its own criminal code to regulate crimes nationwide. Most criminal activity violates either a state or federal law, but not both; however, drug crimes can be prosecuted in either state or federal court or both.

Under Illinois law, misdemeanors range from criminal trespass to a residence or vehicle, possession of marijuana (under 2.5 grams), battery and causing intentional damage to a traffic sign, to retail theft of property valued at less than $150. Misdemeanors in Illinois carry penalties that include 30 days to 1 year in jail and/or fines ranging from $1,500 to $2,500.

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