"Judge orders felons to write 5-page essays"

The title of this post is the sub-heading of this alternative sentencing article from the Toledo Blade, which carries the main headline "For some offenders, sentences are just that."  Here are excerpts from the piece:

Lying among the volumes of paper piled on Judge Stacy Cook’s desk was a handwritten report from a young man she last saw standing at the defendant’s table in her Lucas County Common Pleas courtroom.  “In today’s society, guns and drugs have put most teens at risk,” the paper began. “The number of teens with drugs and guns has risen rapidly. People are wondering why … “

The report isn’t the answer to the nation’s problem of teen violence and drug use — it isn’t supposed to be.  But for the 22-year-old man who was required to write five pages on “youths at risk with drugs/alcohol and guns,” the paper was a way to force him to take a look at his choices.

Since taking the bench in 2007, Judge Cook has seen hundreds of felony defendants.  Some she sends to prison; for others she orders time on community control.  And still others get probation with a few added requirements — such as a five-page paper on teen violence, or a report on closed-head injuries.

It’s a practice not seen elsewhere in the courthouse.  But in Judge Cook’s fourth-floor courtroom, it’s a method she believes is working.  “From years of practicing law, I felt that there was a huge missing link in getting people to understand what they did wrong, not just in committing the crime but where there was error in judgment,” Judge Cook said. “I’ve always thought people needed to understand that what they did sent out this ripple effect.”

The judge said that ordering papers is more than just busy work.  It’s an attempt to make defendants think of how their crimes affect others — in essence, putting their actions back into their lap.  But even more important, it’s an attempt to change a lifestyle.

Judge Cook has ordered as many as 30 defendants to write reports on closed-head injuries and several others to document statistics of guns and violence among youth....

But does it work?  Judge Cook said she can only gauge success on the number of times those on community control have violations.  In particular she looks for those who return to her court after committing a new crime or because of continued drug use.  And while she has no statistics and can’t say for sure, the judge said after a few reflective moments that the numbers for what she would consider serious violations seem to be low.

Lawyer Richard Hasbrook, the public defender in Judge Cook’s courtroom, agrees. He said that across the state, courts are trying new things in sentencing to deal with Ohio’s overcrowded prisons. “I see it as just another tool to bring discipline and structure to otherwise undisciplined and unstructured lives,” he said.

Morris Jenkins, chairman of the criminal justice and social work department at the University of Toledo, has researched alternative sentencing and restorative justice.  He said that by adding requirements to offenders’ probations, the court is making individuals more accountable.

Mr. Jenkins said he has not studied the effects of written papers on recidivism, but added that he’d be willing to do so.  But of the research he has conducted, much of which originates in juvenile court, he has seen that alternative sentences have proven effective. “I’m glad that we have a judge with foresight and courage to do [alternative sentencing] with adult offenders,” he said. “A lot of individuals deserve second chances. Not everyone but a lot of people do, and by making them do something like a paper, I guarantee they’ll remember it later.”