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| College students on Spring Break gather around a woman drinking beer from a funnel on South Padre Island, Texas. PANAMA CITY BEACH, FL—Spring break for college students means traveling to a sunny destination for fun, relaxation, and the consumption of copious amounts of alcohol to an extent that often gets out of hand. Panama City Beach is a popular location, but the police in this Florida community quickly became overwhelmed every year with disruptive students—men urinating in the streets, women baring their breasts in public places, and intoxicated members of both genders, often underage, behaving in a disorderly manner. To process the scores of students being arrested every day and night, city officials experimented with the concept of a "spring break court."1 The spring break court operated during the 6-week period every year from early March to mid-April when up to half a million college students descended upon the area. Anywhere between 100 and 150 students were being arrested on any given night for infractions ranging from nudity to disorderly conduct, and, not surprisingly, the majority involved excessive drinking. Students were handcuffed, fingerprinted, and photographed on the spot in full public view, after which they were released with a summons to appear in court the following morning. For students who failed to appear, local law enforcement officers immediately tracked them down, armed with a warrant for their arrest. Most made every effort to comply with their court date, evidenced by instances in which many defendants passed out or vomited during the proceedings. Ultimately, students could contest the charges, pay a $215 fine, or suit up in an orange jail work vest for a day of trash detail. Most students chose the latter, and as a result, hundreds of tons of garbage were cleared from the beaches and roadsides (debris usually discarded by students). How effective is a nontraditional court like this? Do you think students take it seriously? Is it a real court? Are there other kinds of nontraditional courts? What other kinds of courts are there and what types of justice do they serve? How is the court system in the United States organized? 1. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 7, 2001, A1; Miami Herald, April 7, 2002, 3B. There are many types of courts in the United States. It will soon become clear that the variety is almost endless, as can be seen in the following exchange: Citizen: Where's the courthouse? Police officer: Which one? Citizen: The criminal court, please. Police officer: Which one? Citizen: Huh? Police officer: There's the police court, county court, circuit court, trial court, superior court, and appeals court! Citizen: The trial court, I guess. Police officer: Which one? |