One of the biggest grievances students have about UB's criminal justice system is that it punishes them for off-campus violations. An underage student caught drinking in University Heights, for instance, can be arrested by the Buffalo Police Department or by University Police before receiving a sentence from the Student Wide Judiciary. Students faced with such situations often question the university's right to intervene in areas seemingly outside their jurisdiction.
The fact is the University Police are often called to arrest students at off-campus locations because Buffalo police are often too busy trying to handle more serious offenses. No wonder some people complain that college students are spoiled. Many students here do not appreciate the fact that at UB, law and order converge at their convenience. Instead of griping about receiving a stack of community service hours from the SWJ, they should be thankful they are often spared a trip to the Buffalo city court and a hefty fine, or worse.
While saving students from being adversely affected later on by black marks of youthful indulgence on their legal records, many punishments do not fit the crimes that compelled them. Of course no one likes to be forced to do menial work, but in most cases this "work" consists of relatively pain-free tasks that are completed at the student's disposal. Chances are that you know somebody who has stretched out their community service hours to the limit, slowly finishing them off a few hours at a time.
In some cases, the actual "penalties" administered by the SWJ conflict with one of the oldest tenets of justice: let the punishment fit the crime. Many times, students are offered a choice on what type of community service work they would like to perform. This isn't wrong in and of itself, but students who commit more serious offenses such as serving alcohol to minors should not be "punished" by having to sit outside the Undergraduate Library and escort women for the Anti-Rape Task Force.
It has gotten to the point that some students consider the trouble they might face in terms of a cost-benefit analysis. For instance, one student has remarked that of all the beer-soaked parties he'll throw, the police will probably only find out about one of them. Therefore, any punishment administered by the SWJ would be worth it in the end.
This type of mentality is unacceptable and alludes to ineffectiveness within the campus justice system. Harsher punishments should be dispensed that accurately reflect the transgression. Instead of allowing students to pick and choose the cushiest community service tasks, they should have to perform an activity that 1) will make them think about what they did, and 2) addresses the violation. For instance, an intoxicated student caught making a drunken mess should be forced to clean the streets of beer bottles or charged with wiping down campus toilets instead of passing out fliers in Alumni Arena.
Strong punishments are also more appropriate for serious and potentially dangerous violations. The police and the university decide on a case-by-case basis when to allow a student to be tried in a municipal court, but certain infractions should automatically be taken up by the local authorities in addition to the SWJ, for example throwing a party that serves alcohol to minors. Many students have attended these activities, but recent events only highlight the necessity for stringent and expensive punishments for organizers who do not card their guests.
The idea of imposing strong punishments for serious offenses is to make students understand the magnitude of the effects of their actions, and make the punishments so arduous they will not repeat their offenses. Simply assigning large numbers of community service hours will not instill this kind of mindset. Students should perform tasks that rectify the damages they did to the community as a whole.
