UNIVERSITY PARK — About 4,000 students every year get more from their time at Penn State than just a diploma.

They leave with a notation of discipline on their transcript — often accompanied by a criminal record — that can haunt them as they apply for jobs, apartments, loans or grad school.

Some of those co-eds are even worse off. Their education gets derailed before they get their degrees by jail or disciplinary expulsion.

The office of judicial affairs works with local police, and often hands down a sentence separate from the court of law, and students who get into trouble often get a double whammy.

So, it’s a good idea to know the laws and the consequences before a good time turns into hard time.

Most people charged with lesser offenses, such as misdemeanors for DUI, simple assault, harassment or theft, are eligible for a probationary program called ARD — Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition.

If you complete the program, which lasts about a year, you can apply to have the charge wiped from your record.

But your academic record can still suffer. Punishments from the Office of Judicial Affairs can range from a warning or mandated counseling to suspension and expulsion.

For more serious crimes, students facing criminal charges could spend time on court probation, in county jail, or even at a state prison.

And don’t forget — just be cause a charge was expunged from your record, it doesn’t mean it never happened. News media routinely report court proceedings, and once something is on the Internet, it never goes away.

One quick search will unearth your past for anyone curious enough to Google your name.

Here’s what you can expect:

DUI: Most first-time DUI offenders are eligible for ARD. If you don’t qualify for ARD, or don’t complete the program, you could get a mandatory 72 hours in jail, depending on your blood alcohol level.

If you get ARD and are charged with DUI again within 10 years, that first DUI charge will count against you when you are sentenced. The sentence for a second DUI is five to 90 days in jail.

Plus, for even your first DUI arrest, the fines can run into the thousands of dollars, and you can expect to lose your driver’s license for any where from 30 days to 18 months.

UNDERAGE DRINKING AND OTHER SUMMARY OFFENSES: Summary citations are sort of like traffic tickets. They carry a fine and no jail time, but a judge can impose community service or counseling as part of a sentence.

Urinating in public, acting disorderly, being drunk in public and drinking underage can all get you fines, some up to $300.

In 2008, state law changed to allow summary citations to be expunged from your record after five years — with a catch: You can only have one. Otherwise they stick to your record just like any other crime.

FIGHTING: Bad temper? Keep your fists to yourself or you could be looking at hard jail time for this crime.

Causing serious bodily injury to someone is aggravated assault and could land you behind bars for three years to 20 years.

For simple assault, a less serious offense, you would probably get probation, or up to a month in county jail.

Many cases where a single punch is thrown are reduced to harassment citations that result in fines, or if the victim agrees, ARD.

DRUGS: From big-time dealing to passing a joint to a friend, having drugs on a college campus is a serious crime.

Cases of simply possessing personal amounts of marijuana, or a marijuana pipe usually end with ARD or probation.

But if you’re caught dealing drugs — even passing a joint to a friend — you’ll be charged with a felony, and if you take the case to trial, a judge could sentence you to a mandatory two years in state prison under a state law passed to discourage dealing near schools.

The law establishing tougher penalties for selling in school zones was written to punish people pedaling near kids, but it also includes universities. Most of downtown State College and all of the University Park campus are in a school zone.

Outside the school zone, selling less than 2.5 grams of cocaine or between two and 10 pounds of marijuana can have you eating jail food for at least a year while contemplating a $5,000 fine.

Beware, college students often get caught up in drug rings that span several states, with ring leaders who, if caught, are looking at decades in the slammer.

BURGLARY: It might seem like a cool prank to steal the deer heads from your rival frat. But breaking and entering is a felony that can send you to the slammer for one to two years if someone is home.

That also means that if you get too drunk, forget where you live and stumble into a family’s home, you’re looking at hard jail time.

Entering a home when no one is there means a minimum six months in the county jail.

If you’re lucky you can bargain that down to a criminal trespass charge, but that will still taint your record for future employers and landlords.

SEXUAL ASSAULT: Most sexual assaults on campus happen between acquaintances who meet through friends or at parties.

Many times, the defendants say alcohol was involved and they can’t remember what happened or they believe the sex was consensual.

Be aware that, under state law, an intoxicated woman cannot legally give consent. In 2006, a 22-year-old student was sentenced to three to six years in state prison for a sexual assault that happened after he says he blacked out. Many other cases end with plea agreements that still call for county jail time, and charge of indecent assault or aggravated indecent assault on your record. Those don’t look good on resumes.

STALKING: Recognize that the relationship is over and don’t have any more contact after being told no.

Stalking charges can result in probation. But if you get caught a second time, even if it is not the same victim, the crime becomes a felony and will result in a minimum of 90 days in jail.

You’ll also be required to attend months of classes to change your behavior — more time and money lost.

THEFT: Low on toothpaste and cash? Don’t steal. Most stores downtown are equipped with surveillance cameras to catch you in the act.

A first offense could end up as a summary charge, but a second retail theft charge will land you on probation, and a third could mean jail time.

Same goes for stray books in the library. Many can be tracked by the serial number, and if they are tracked back to you, it can mean trouble. The more expensive the item, the more severe the sentence.

Find a credit card that’s not yours?

Swipe it in the ATM and you can count on probation or jail time, depending on how much you steal. Up to $2,000 will get you a month behind bars.

FAKE ID: Dying to get into a bar underage? Try that in State College — where most bars are equipped with bar-code scanners — and you’re likely to get slapped with a charge of giving false information.

If you’re lucky, police will cite you with a summary, but they can charge you with a misdemeanor resulting in probation.

If you’re caught making or selling a fake ID, expect a misdemeanor charge and probation.

RIOT: Think twice before you climb a telephone poll to celebrate that Penn State win.

Most of the students charged with rioting after the football team’s 2008 win over Ohio State got a choice: Spend 30 days in jail and admit to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct, or get a sentence of probation and live with a felony record for the rest of your life.

VANDALISM: Punching a hole in a wall or pulling the fire alarm as a prank can land you on court supervision with a hefty bill of restitution. Most people charged with this crime never see a jail cell, but end up working a lot of hours to pay for damage.

CHEATING: Punishment for cheating, according to Penn State university code, can range from a warning to removal from a program. Cheating can be plagiarism, fabrication of information, facilitation of acts of academic dishonesty by others, unauthorized possession of examinations, submitting work of another person or work previously used without informing the instructor, and tampering with the academic work of other students.

From its beginning State College has been a college town welcoming students and embracing their traditions. That is why our fraternity district was built within a neighborhood where professors and their families lived, frequently with student tenants. Our downtown grew naturally across the street from Penn State.

Over time the increase of students outpaced the population of the town and now students outnumber permanent residents. This makes the once easy connection with students more difficult, sometimes impossible. Still, just about everybody who lives here has a proud connection to Penn State.

Student life commonly includes drinking. In the past few years, however, dangerous drinking has accelerated. Issues related to alcohol abuse threaten the high standard of living neighborhoods have traditionally enjoyed.

When town and gown are in sync, life is very good in Happy Valley. When town and gown are at odds, not so much.

The growing trend among students is to drink more hard liquor in dorm rooms and apartments before going to a party, and to get drunker. Too many drink with the intent of getting drunk. Blood-alcohol levels are at all-time, life-threatening highs and trips to Mount Nittany Medical Center are on the increase. Plus Facebook, cell phones and Twitter have exponentially expanded the possibility of adding strangers into the mix. All these indicators are pointing in the wrong direction.

The welcoming, small town community of State College, the opportunities at Penn State and outstanding work of many students are being overshadowed by the unacceptable behavior of a few thousand people. What a tragedy that Penn State and State College are becoming known in the media for binge drinking.

The happiest students I see are fully engaged in exploring their talents — journalism students calling me at midnight, engineering students working on a project, EcoAction members engaging all of us to celebrate Earth Day, demanding environmental change, etc. Students are an important part of our town and contribute their energy in many ways — as volunteers and athletes and through cultural and academic achievement.

Not surprisingly, students and nonstudents tend to live in different worlds. I recently was told that students love State College because it is perceived as a “safe bubble” where they don’t have to be afraid to walk home unaccompanied at 2 or 3 a.m. Ironically and tragically, it is about this time of day that others fear the most, because this is when vandalism, property damage, assaults and home invasions are on the rise.

These trends are unhealthy for the drinker, the neighborhoods and our town. Students in the process of becoming adults need to learn responsible drinking habits.

The mindless destructiveness of drinking has no place in our town. We are better than that. The destructive and dangerous behavior of insanely drunk people is destroying the fabric of our neighborhoods and sense of community.

The issue will take a long time to correct. Three interwoven issues must be addressed.

1. To keep State College a good place to live, everyone must feel this is their town, too.

Part of being an adult and a resident of State College is the responsibility to be respectful of fellow residents.

To have a happy life here, students must feel a personal connection to our town. Some students, especially freshmen, find university life overwhelming and are unable to cope. Getting drunk may seem like a solution. Other, better alternatives could emerge if students living in the borough felt they belonged here, were welcomed by members of our community and were treated with respect.

Look around our town and you will see the common foundation of our connection to this place and to each other. Many residents of State College either work at Penn State, are retired from Penn State or were students who stayed and now work for Penn State.

The majority of borough residents are students. At move-in time, residents of downtown neighborhoods can join the existing LION (Living in One Neighborhood) Walk initiated three years ago, or start their own welcome program.

Lion Walk has teams comprising a Penn State administrator (including Graham Spanier), a borough official, a police officer and a student, to personally welcome students at their doorstep. A neighborhood LION Walk could easily take this to the next, more personal level.

At our annual block parties, neighborhoods should feel encouraged and comfortable to invite their student neighbors, too.

Students need to be made aware of their rights and responsibilities. We want students to feel welcome and part of our town. Their ideas, energy and studies at Penn State are a big part of what makes State College a great college town.

2. There must be increased consequences for causing problems

There are consequences to all human activity; that is how we learn. Without appropriate consequences for destructive behavior there will be no change in the destructive behaviors that are afflicting our town.

Holding people accountable for their actions is part of the answer. Borough Council is now considering a series of ordinances to increase police focus on the people and properties that are repeat offenders. Another recommendation, not yet on the agenda, would require large party registration that also educates the host about how to hold a large party without causing harm to others.

State College is joining with other municipalities to lobby for a dramatic increase in fines for summary offenses (public drunkenness, etc.) These fines, set by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, have been unchanged for 30 years. Research shows increasing the consequences for illegal actions does change behavior.

The borough will continue to lobby for an alcohol tax to offset the enormous cost of enforcement (60 percent of all police offenses are alcohol related). Beer sales from package stores are limited to two six-packs per individual purchase, but the same person can purchase 50 quarts of Captain Morgan at the liquor store. Hard liquor sales could be limited, too.

Penn State has a special role to play, since it is the reason students are here and is the institution they look to for direction. Police cooperation between town and gown is excellent; citations for off-campus behavior are sent daily to campus Judicial Affairs for review.

In the eyes of most students, on-campus consequences for off-campus behavior is of greater concern than being arrested. Penn State could send a very strong message of deterrence by articulating and enforcing prescribed consequences for specific violations, in addition to its active role of intervention and education.

Penn State is also considering a proposal to make freshman dormitories substance free in fall 2010. Such a policy is a good first step in sending the message that alcohol is unnecessary for a complete college experience.

Students play an essential role in reducing alcohol-related crime. Breaking into someone’s home, destroying someone else’s property is not cool; it is disgusting. We must do whatever it takes to get this message across.

One way is to have student leaders participate in peer-to-peer panels and work in conjunction with local magistrates in alcohol-related cases, recommending appropriate community service. In some cases, the peer panel could meet with both the offender and the victim, providing feedback and recommendations to the court

3. Mitigating the environment that leads to binge drinking

Although a minority of students is responsible for creating the disgraceful acts causing such turmoil, we are all responsible for solving this problem

Let’s face it, nothing will change significantly until the students are on board, and we have a way to go. In March, student leaders spoke out asking for moderation and restraint. Meanwhile, while social-networking sites invited people to attend and news stories about State Patty’s Day went global. The result was a resounding failure for our town.

A broad spectrum of student leaders, elected officials, administrators and residents are actively engaged in discussions. The Penn State and State College communities are talking openly and honestly about the serious problems that result from dangerous drinking. The dialogue needs to continue and become another town-gown tradition.

People are complex. We are each capable of being very sensitive and totally insensitive. We can all learn from our actions. That is the critical issue we have to bank on. And there are signs of change: the Interfraternity Council voted for a dry Rush Week in January.

Surprising to some, the result was better than ever: more pledges than expected. The students who pledged said getting to know the fraternity members made them interested in joining. What’s next? Students can do a better job of looking out for each other — not allowing friends to drink so much that they get into trouble. This is true friendship.

Today’s students are unique. This age group — 19 to 29 — are known as “millennials.” Unlike their parents, the baby boomers, millennials have grown up in an increasingly affluent time. They are savvy consumers, barraged by advertisements offering electronics, clothes and alcohol that bring the promise of bring status and popularity.

Our neighborhoods are the mortar that holds our town together, providing the caring protection of people who look out for everyone. State College neighborhoods have a lot to share with their student neighbors, and vice versa, once we reconnect.

Alcohol-related offenses affect everyone. Similar problems of dangerous drinking on campus have increased nationwide, and Penn State is no exception. This makes our leadership on the issue even more important, more urgent. Although we must all work a bit harder to recapture the spirit of State College, it is worth it.

As mayor, I consider this is a top priority for our town.

Elizabeth Goreham, former president of State College Borough Council, took office as mayor in January.

Read more: http://www.centredaily.com/2010/04/19/1921250/in-taking-leadership-stand-we.html#ixzz0lZxC0V9X

BELLEFONTE — District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller will not pursue a criminal case against a student photographer charged with ignoring police orders to leave the 2008 State College riot that he was covering for the Daily Collegian newspaper.

In a prepared statement Thursday, Parks Miller said it’s in “the interest of justice” that she not continue the appeal started by her predecessor Michael Madeira.

Madeira had approved charges of inciting the crowd of thousands that gathered in Beaver Canyon after Penn State’s football team beat Ohio State that year. Police also charged photographer Michael Felletter with not leaving when police ordered.

Felletter was on assignment for the Penn State student newspaper. Police said that by taking pictures with large equipment, he was encouraging the crowd to act more rowdy.

The charges were thrown out by a judge, but Madeira appealed the case to the state Superior Court in August. Thursday, Parks Miller sent a letter to the Superior Court saying she will not continue the appeal.

“I’m really proud of him for fighting this fight and for not backing down and for understanding,” said Felletter’s attorney Andrew Shubin. “It shows a level of sophistication for a college student to understand the level of importance for fighting this fight and not giving in. I really do think that Michael understood he was fighting this not just for his own career but for the principles.”

Shubin, who represented Felletter for free through the ACLU, has been fighting these charges since Felletter’s arrest, saying the arrest and charge are violations of Felletter’s First Amendment rights.

He said he appreciates the “careful and considerate review of the constitutional principles” by Parks Miller, who, in her campaign against Madeira last year, cited this case as one with which Madeira was wasting resources and exercising poor judgment.

The end of this case, Shubin says, “validates the long-standing First Amendment protections afforded by the courts to the media and their vital role in collecting and disseminating news.”

Parks Miller said in her press release that “while the police always have the ability to tell people to disperse in dangerous crowd situations and people should comply with those directives for safety reasons, based upon the specific facts of record in this particular case, we have chosen to discontinue this appeal.”

Read more: http://www.centredaily.com/2010/03/12/1849263/parks-miller-dropping-case-of.html#ixzz0hyOeCXMF

A school spokeswoman said Tuesday there is no evidence the information has been accessed by unauthorized parties, but that the university is being cautious in notifying people their information is on an infected computer.

The school announced Dec. 23 that the computers have been hit by so-called “malware,” or malicious software.

More than 14,000 of the records were at the main University Park campus. The school said Tuesday those individuals have been contacted.

Another 15,000 are at a still-unnamed branch campus, though that investigation is not complete.

Posted: 6:07 pm EST December 29, 2009

Updated: 12:21 pm EST December 30, 2009

The American Civil Liberties Union told State College in a letter Friday that the borough’s proposed “nuisance gathering ordinance,” which is scheduled for a public hearing Monday night, violates the U.S. Constitution.

The ACLU letter, from staff attorney Valerie Burch to council President Elizabeth Goreham, says the ordinance’s “liability scheme … runs roughshod over and through well-established constitutional rights.” If the borough passes the ordinance, Burch says in the letter, the ACLU of Pennsylvania will entertain requests to challenge it in court.

Goreham said Saturday that the ACLU letter “casts a shadow over that ordinance and we really need to look for another way — this is apparently not the way.”

The proposed ordinance was modeled after similar ones adopted recently in two other college towns — Michigan State University’s hometown in East Lansing and Bloomsburg, home of Bloomsburg University, borough Police Chief Tom King told council.

The State College proposal says the host of a gathering of 10 or more people may be held in violation of law and subject to summary offense fines from $300 to $600, or 30 days in jail, if the gathering results in certain illegal activities at or within 100 feet of the location.

The illegal activities of party guests that would result in nuisance gathering ordinance violations by party hosts include: excessively loud noise; brawls, fights, quarrels, obscene conduct or other public disturbances; open containers; underage drinking; public drunkenness; public urination or public defecation; unlawful furnishing of intoxicating beverages; criminal mischief; sale of controlled substance; and lewdness.

The ACLU said the ordinance is “overbroad.” In criminalizing the hosting of gatherings that result in illegal activities, the ACLU says, the proposal prohibits constitutionally protected activities such as political and religious meetings that may inadvertently result in illegal activities.

As an example, the ACLU cites a pre-election meeting whose hosts could be found in violation if a political opponent stands outside the meeting, shouts noisily and litters the street with handbills.

“Such an ordinance chills the right to freely associate, protected by the First Amendment,” the ACLU letter says.

The ACLU also said the proposed ordinance violates the First Amendment by holding those who exercise First Amendment rights liable for the actions of others, and by trying to shift the costs of police services to the organizer of events.

“The First Amendment does not allow government to hold an event organizer categorically responsible for the actions of others … loosely resulting from the event,” the ACLU said.

The ACLU’s third problem with the proposal centers on the right to due process under the Fifth Amendment. By punishing the host, the ACLU says, “the ordinance holds responsible those who lack both intent to act illegally and a ‘responsible relation’ to the illegal actors.”

In an interview Saturday, Burch suggested it will take more than just language tweaking to erase ACLU concerns.

“You simply can’t criminalize someone for just having a party,” she said. “You just can’t make a law that violates the U.S. Constitution, and of course the Constitution trumps the borough of State College.”

Penn State student Brett Fisher, a candidate for council in Tuesday’s election, has criticized the proposed nuisance gathering ordinance for the very reasons cited by the ACLU.

Another ordinance scheduled for a public hearing at Monday’s council meeting would change the definition of “student home” in the borough codes to make it harder for single-family homes owned by students or students’ family members to rent rooms in the home to unrelated students.

Still another proposal would specify permit uses of former fraternity houses to include community or day care centers, homes for the elderly, nursing homes, medical clinics, offices or private schools.

Council does not plan to act on either of these ordinances Monday. Final consideration is scheduled for the Dec. 7 council meeting. For more information, go to www.statecollegepa.us. Mike Joseph can be reached at 235-3910.

Read more: http://www.centredaily.com/news/local/story/1602036.html#ixzz0VdVPWdWU

Sentencing guidelines for that kind of crime call for probation to 30 days in county jail — with one huge exception.

If you are caught selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school, state law says prosecutors can seek a two-year mandatory minimum sentence.

“The purpose was to discourage and penalize drug dealing near schools and near schoolchildren,” said Mark Bergstrom, director of the state Commission on Sentencing.

But the law also encompasses any location within 1,000 feet of colleges, universities, school bus stops, or any property owned by colleges or schools.

That includes the downtown apartment where Marion lived — where he sold the roughly three joints of marijuana. If he’d been outside a “school zone,” Marion would have needed to sell more than 10 pounds of marijuana to receive a sentence above two years.

“The problem here is we have a major university and some kids do experiment with marijuana at major universities,” said Chief Public Defender Dave Crowley. “It’s college kids, for the most part, selling to other college kids, very, very, very small amounts. Do you really want to ruin people’s lives for that stupid mistake?”

Earlier this month, the sentencing commission released a 490-page report on a two-year study of, among other things, school zone mandatory sentences.

Its recommendation: Repeal it.

The reasons: “First, 1,000 feet of a zone really does cover a lot of territory, especially in urban areas,” Bergstrom said. “You’re really covering blocks and blocks that don’t seem to have a connection to the school at all. It’s very broad.

“The second thing, it didn’t seem to have that connection with the (law’s) original purpose.”

Bergstrom said there are other tools that can be used to punish people who sell drugs to children. A sentencing enhancement can be enforced at the discretion of a judge and would carry about the same extra jail time as the school zone’s mandatory minimum, which allows judges no room to sway.

“I think that we all knew that these mandatories didn’t work for any legitimate purpose,” said State College defense attorney Andrew Shubin. “We knew that they didn’t deter crimes. … We all know that we should not be using school zone mandatories when two consenting college kids are exchanging drugs in a dorm room.”

Debating the mandate

A map of State College shows a majority of the borough is within a school zone. Even outside of the borough, plots of land owned by Penn State, churches with day care centers, unmarked school bus stops — even during summer vacation — all are considered schools. Anything within three football fields of them is within a school zone.

“It’s sort of hard to know exactly if you’re in a school zone or not in a school zone,” Bergstrom said. “So if we’re saying we want to provide a safe zone for kids, people should know what that zone is and it’s kind of hard to tell.”

If the legislature doesn’t want to repeal the law, the commission recommended a second option: Amend the law to reduce the “zone” from 1,000 feet around a school to 250 feet, and remove colleges and universities from the mix.

Centre County District Attorney Michael Madeira, who is on the sentencing commission as a nonvoting representative of the state District Attorneys Association, says that while the association has yet to take a position, he disagrees with the findings.

Madeira, as well as prosecutors across the state, says the school zone mandatory rule is a great tool that prosecutors across the state use to negotiate plea agreements.

“By suggesting that a school zone mandatory could apply, and therefore garnering a plea from someone who sold drugs … helps our system,” Madeira said.

If his office stopped using the school zone law, he said, “every defense attorney worth their salt is going to say, ‘Let’s go to trial. What do we have to lose? My guy’s going to get convicted anyway. Or if he gets convicted, he’s not going to do any more time.’ ”

The commission found that this practice floods jails with people who weren’t the intended targets of the law. And defendants sentenced to prison are much more likely to reoffend, it noted.

Shubin calls Madeira’s explanation for why he uses the school zone law “a victory of red meat politics over what’s right and what’s just.”

“Trials are a constitutional right, and it’s cynical to say ‘Let’s avoid them by instituting mandatories,’ ” Shubin said.

The report, which surveyed judges, prosecutors, defendants and attorneys, also found that school zone mandatory sentences were unevenly applied across the state.

“In some counties, it was used in every way possible and in other counties it wasn’t really used at all,” Bergstrom said.

The study showed the sentences were used most in Berks County, and least in Allegheny and Philadelphia counties.

The mandatory also makes no distinction between the type of drug or the quantity being sold. One-quarter ounce of marijuana draws the same sentence as a large quantity of heroin.

“To me, sentencing should be based on the type of drug, the quantity of drug, and it should be left to the court and not to the district attorney’s office,” said defense attorney Jason Dunkle.

Attorney Stacy Parks Miller, who is Madeira’s opponent in the Nov. 3 election, said the law had “a well intentioned purpose” but went far beyond that.

“Even though I fully support other mandatory sentencing provisions, including the mandatory sentence for drugs sold directly to a minor and mandatory sentences based upon the weight of drugs, I am not a fan of this mandatory,” Parks Miller said. “I prefer sentencing to be based upon actual facts of the case, not some geographical measurement of proximity of the incident to the border of property owned by Penn State University, which is often how we see it used.”

Trial comes at cost

Madeira said he believes those who wrote the law intended universities to be considered school zones, otherwise, “they wouldn’t have said ‘university.’ ”

But, he said, his office doesn’t typically enforce the mandatory sentence called for by the school zone law unless a case goes to trial.

That, defense attorneys say, has a chilling effect.

“When a prospective client is charged with delivery of drugs in the State College area, I tell them right away that the school zone statute may be applied,” Dunkle said. “I tell them that if we fight the case in any manner … you are going to state prison if we lose. It’s either plead guilty or face state prison. Someone with four cases, you’re looking at eight years. People who legitimately should fight a case simply won’t because of the fear of the school zones being applied.”

Shubin recalled one case in which a 19-year-old education major and honor student, who had never before been in trouble, was asked to do a “favor” for a friend who had sold him pot.

The student sold the friend some marijuana on two occasions. He soon found out the friend was working with police to arrange the buys to get himself out of a jam.

Shubin said he believed he had a good chance of winning if the case went to trial.

“None of these things mattered,” Shubin said. “All that mattered was that if I was going to test the case … they were going to ask four to eight years.”

Shubin said his client, unwilling to take the risk, pleaded guilty to a felony and spent six months in jail.

“He’s now in a community college, he left Penn State because there was really no sense in him being here,” Shubin said. “A kid that would have earned $60-$80- $90,000 a year as an educator … he’s afraid to even apply for jobs with a felony on his record.”

“The mandatories, in my view, very cynically gave the District Attorney’s Office the opportunity to take a probation case, scare the bejeezus out of kids who have a lot to lose and got them to be confidential informants and set up their friends, elders, colleagues,” he said.

Scott Marion declined to comment while he waits to hear if the state Supreme Court will hear his appeal on the use of mandatories in his case. His appeal argues prosecutors didn’t prove his location was 1,000 feet from Penn State because he was six stories up in an apartment building.

NUISANCE GATHERING ORDINANCE

Be it ENACTED AND ORDAINED by the Borough Council of the Borough of State College, and it is hereby Enacted and Ordained by authority of same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Amend the State College Borough Codification of Ordinances, Chapter V. Conduct. To add a new Part J. Nuisance Gathering Ordinance, to read as follows:

PART  J

NUISANCE GATHERING

Section 1001. Purpose and Findings. The Borough of State College intends to preserve the peace, health, safety, and welfare of the residents and neighborhoods in the municipality by reducing the illegal behavior and conduct often occurring at events or gatherings that
seriously detracts from the peace, health, safety, and welfare of the community.

The Borough of State College finds that:

a. Events and gatherings held on private or public property where persons gather and where Liquor or Malt or Brewed beverages are consumed and/or illegal controlled substances are used by persons attending such events or gatherings often results in disruptive, disorderly, destructive, violent, and hazardous conditions that constitute a threat to peace, health, safety, and welfare of the community that require prevention, response to, and/or abatement.

b. Often events and gatherings held on private or public property where persons gather and where Liquor or Malt or Brewed beverages are consumed and/or illegal controlled substances are used by persons attending such events or gatherings result in one or more of the following:

(1) Liquor or Malt or Brewed beverage-related or illegal controlled substance-related traffic crashes; or

(2) Liquor or Malt or Brewed beverage-related or illegal controlled substance-related injuries from falls and other accidents; or

(3) Overconsumption of Liquor or Malt or Brewed beverage requiring emergency medical treatment; or

(4)  Providing Liquor or Malt or Brewed beverage to persons under 21 years of age; or

(5)  Residents being awakened overnight from loud noises; or

(6)  Violent outbursts that result in physical injury to persons; or

(7)  Residents having their property damaged or stolen.

c. These events and gatherings that become unlawful public nuisances result in an inordinate amount of police service resources deployed to these events or gatherings resulting in additional costs to the Borough of State College taxpayers. Because of these inordinate costs, it is necessary to recover the police service costs for certain unlawful public nuisances.

Section 1002. Authority. This ordinance is enacted pursuant to XXXXXXXX

Section 1003. Definitions. For purposes of this ordinance, the following terms have the following meanings:

Event or gathering. Event or gathering means any group of three (3) or more persons who have assembled or gathered together for a social function or other activity on public or private property whether indoors or outdoors.

Host.    Host means to aid, conduct, allow, entertain, organize, supervise, control, or overtly permit a gathering or event.

Liquor. Liquor as defined by Title 18 – Pennsylvania Crimes Code Section 6310.6

Malt or brewed beverages. Malt or brewed beverages as defined by Title 18 — Pennsylvania Crimes Code Section 6310.6

Person. Person means any individual, partnership, co-partnership, corporation, or any association of one or more individuals.

Police Service Costs. Police Service Costs means the cost to the Borough of State College for police services rendered in responding to a call at a nuisance gathering or otherwise maintaining order and public peace and safety and stopping public disturbances at a nuisance
gathering, including, but not limited to, the salaries and other compensation of police officers, appropriate administrative costs allocable thereto, the cost of repairing damaged Borough of State College equipment and property, and the cost of any medical treatment of injured police officers. The cost for salaries and other compensation of police officers plus the administrative costs shall be established annually by the Borough of State College Finance Department. Cost of
repairing damaged equipment and the cost of any medical treatment of injured police officers shall be based on actual costs.

Premise. Premise means any home, yard, fraternity house, farm, field, land, apartment, condominium, hotel or motel room, or other dwelling unit. or a hall or meeting room, park, or any other place of assembly,public or private, whether occupied on a temporary or permanent basis, whether occupied as a dwelling or specifically for a party or other social function, and whether owned, leased, rented, or used with or without permission or compensation.

Underage Person. Underage person is any individual under twenty-one (21) years of age.

Section 1004. Declaration of nuisance gathering. An event or gathering that results in one or more of the following illegal activities at a premise or on neighboring public or private property is hereby declared to be an unlawful public nuisance as defined herein:

a.  Excessive, unnecessary, or unreasonably loud noise which does or is likely to disturb the comfort, quiet, or repose of the neighborhood  (Section 5503 of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code – Title 18) and/or (Chapter V, Part A, Section 103 of the Borough of State College
Codification of Ordinances); or

b.  Public disturbances, brawls, fights, or quarrels or Indecent or obscene conduct (Section 5503 of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code – Title 18); or

c.  Open container – (Chapter V, Part C., Section 302 c. of the Borough of State College Codification of Ordinances); or

d.  Purchase, consumption, possession, or  transportation of Liquor or Malt or Brewed beverages (Section 6308 of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code -Title 18); or

e.  Public drunkenness (Section 5505 of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code – Title 18); or

f.  Public urination or defecation (Section 5503 of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code – Title 18); or

g. Unlawful sale, furnishing, or consumption of intoxicating beverages (Section 6310.1 of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code – Title 18); or,

h. Unlawful deposit of trash or litter – Section 6501 of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code (Title 18); or

I. Criminal mischief (Section 3304 of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code -Title 18); or

j. Sale, manufacture, possession of any controlled substances as defined in The Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act” Act of 1972, P.L. 233, No. 64; or

k.  Open lewdness or indecent exposure (Section 5901 or Section 3127 of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code – Title 18); or

1.  Other illegal conduct or condition which injures, or endangers the safety, health, or welfare of the neighborhood.

Section 1005. Prohibited Act. Any premise owner, occupant, tenant, or other person having any possessory control, individually or jointly with others, of any premise who sponsors, conducts, hosts, invites, or overtly permits an event or gathering that at any time of the event or gathering to become an unlawful public nuisance as defined in Section 4 is hereby deemed to have committed a violation of this section.

Section 1006. Penalty for violation.

(a) Any person who violates Section 5 is guilty of a summary offense punishable a fine of not less than $300 nor more than $600 or by imprisonment for not more than 30 days, or both.

(b) For a second or subsequent violation of Section 5 in a l2-month period, the person is guilty of a summary offense punishable by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or both.

(c) A criminal penalty provided for under subsections (a) and (b) of this section may be imposed in addition to any penalty that may be imposed for any other criminal offense arising from the same conduct.

Each act of violation and every day upon which such violation occurs shall constitute a separate offense.

Section 1007. Payment for Police Service Costs Required. Any premise owner, occupant, tenant, or other person having any possessory control, individually or jointly with others, of any premise who sponsors, conducts, hosts, invites, or overtly permits an unlawful public nuisance
event or gathering shall pay the police service costs for the response, investigation, documentation, and prosecution of the second and any subsequent unlawful public nuisance events or gatherings within a 180 day period of time.

Section 1008. Notice of Police Service Costs. Whenever the police are called to respond to and declare a property in violation of this ordinance, a representative of the Police Department shall notify the owner of the private property where the nuisance gathering took place
and also the Person in Charge (PIC) of such property if the owner has designated a “PIC” in accordance with the Borough of State College’s Property Maintenance Code (Chapter IV, Part L, Section 1204, Chapter 9, Section 901.2), by regular mail at the last known address of such owner
and/or Person in Charge. This notification will include at a minimum that the police identified a nuisance gathering at the owner’s property and that if the police are again called to respond to a nuisance gathering at such property within 180 days after their initial response, such owner shall be required to pay police service costs to the Borough of State College for such responses.

Section 1009. Collection of Police Service Costs. For the second and all subsequent responses to unlawful public nuisance events or gatherings within 180 days as provided for in Section 7 of this Ordinance, the Chief of Police or his/her duly authorized designee shall notify the Borough of State College Finance Department in writing of the name and address of the owner of the private property where the nuisance gathering took place, the dates of the initial and subsequent
response(s), and necessary details related to the billable costs as listed in Section 3, (f) for the subsequent response. The Borough of State College Finance Director or his/her duly authorized designee shall then bill the owner for the appropriate amount and which shall be due and payable to the Borough of State College within thirty (30) days of such billing.

Section 1010. Failure to Pay Police Service Costs. Any police service costs which have not been paid within thirty (30) days of the billing therefore maybe collected, together with a penalty of ten percent (10%) thereof and interest at the rate of ten percent (10%) per annum added thereto, by civil action against the owner and/or may be imposed or assessed against the owner’s private property as a municipal claim as provided by law.

Section 1011. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, word, or other portion of this ordinance is, for any reason, held to be unconstitutional or invalid, in whole, or in part, by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed severable, and such unconstitutionality or invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance, which remaining portions shall continue in full force and effect.

SECTION 3. Effective Date. This ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days following its final passage and adoption.

Police Chief Tom King told council the intent is not to replace laws but to add to what police have to work with now.

“We’re looking for additional ways for a local ordinance to supplement the crimes code,” he said. “When we can’t absolutely prove who furnished the alcohol … then tenants or property owners are responsible.”

The ordinance, based on versions already on the books at Michigan State’s hometown of East Lansing and Bloomsburg, home of Bloomsburg University, could establish a summary offense punishable by a $300 to $600 fine or jail time, according to an early draft circulated at Monday’s council meeting.

The ordinance draft also provides for recovery by the borough of police costs for the response, investigation, documentation and prosecution of the second and subsequent “unlawful nuisance gathering” within a 180-day period.

A nuisance gathering, according to the ordinance draft, is an event or gathering that results in any of a dozen illegal activities:

Noise ordinance violations; fights; open container violations; underage drinking; public drunkenness; public urination or defecation; unlawful sale of intoxicating beverages; unlawful littering; criminal mischief; possession or sale of controlled substances; lewdness or indecent exposure; and “other illegal conduct or condition which injures, or endangers the safety, health or welfare of the neighborhood.”

King told council that such ordinances were first developed on the West Coast about a decade ago and have since moved east. He said East Lansing “has had a lot of success with this” but Bloomsburg hasn’t used it much.

The police budget amounts to nearly half of the entire borough’s operating budget. Council will likely schedule a work session on the proposed ordinance in the fall.

Mike Joseph

Centre Daily Times

- mjoseph@centredaily.com

District Justice Carmine Prestia dismissed furnishing alcohol to minors and related alcohol violations against Tau Epsilon Phi after a preliminary hearing in Centre County Central Criminal Court. The State College Police charged the fraternity with misdemeanors following a summer party at the house. The Commonwealth called an eighteen year old student, who had been cited for underage drinking and disorderly conduct after being caught urinating in bushes, to testify against the fraternity in return for favorable consideration from the District Attorney’s office. The student testified that he drank several beers at the fraternity house. The court agreed with Attorney Andrew Shubin’s argument that there was insufficient evidence linking the fraternity as a corporate entity to any criminal wrongdoing and dismissed all charges.