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Ten Years For Stealing Beer

By TChris, Section Juvenile Offenders
Posted on Mon Dec 05, 2005 at 01:35:49 PM EST
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by TChris

Adam Bollenbach was 16 when he stole a six-pack of beer from an open garage. Apart from being young, he’s bipolar and suffers from ADHD. His crime merited an apology, repayment for the beer, and enough supervision to assure that he obtained treatment for his mental health problems. So why is this Florida teen serving a ten year sentence?

Months earlier, Adam had been charged as an adult for theft of a bag of potato chips from his school lunchroom. This charge was dropped, but according to the law, once charged as an adult, you cannot be charged as a juvenile.

Adam went before Circuit Judge Ric Howard who admitted that he was using Adam as a teaching tool in front of other juvenile offenders. The result was a sentence of 10 years in prison.

Adam was sentenced for burglarizing a dwelling, but harsh penalties are intended for those who break into homes at night (potentially putting lives, including the burglar’s, at risk), not for unarmed kids who walk into an open garage during the day. Adam’s plight is, in part, the handiwork of the “tough on crime” crowd, who perceive no difference between kids and adults, and who have successfully lobbied compliant legislators to enact laws that punish teenagers instead of helping them. And it’s partly the fault of a judge who is willing to throw a kid away to make an example out of him. From this travesty, other kids are supposed to learn to respect the law?

Adam hopes for clemency, but he’s at risk while he waits for an answer.

After a year and a half in prison, a request was sent to have Adam's case reviewed. It was denied, stating that a minimum of serving two years was required before review. Within months, Adam was stabbed in the neck with an ice pick by a fellow inmate.

A second request for clemency was sent in November 2003, requesting review of the case in fear that Adam would not make the two-year requirement. The case is now set for a Clemency Review meeting on Dec. 15 in Tallahassee.

If the Clemency Review committee gives Adam an "unfavorable" recommendation, he’ll have to wait three more years to renew his request. At that point, he will have served at least six years for stealing a six pack of beer when he was a juvenile. Ron Lundberg, who writes about Adam’s story today, asks the right question:

Just how much blood does the justice system demand for stealing a six-pack of beer?

Lundberg would like to see the Clemency Review committee flooded with letters in support of Adam. If you live in Florida, go to the linked article for an address to which your letters should be sent.

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    Ten Years For Stealing Beer | 25 comments (25 topical)
    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#1)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:40 PM EST
    teaching tool? teaching tool? Ric Howard needs some teaching tools for himself... he also "recently sentenced William Thornton, who was 17 at the time he was charged, to 30 years in prison for his role in a tragic traffic accident that left two people dead... During Thornton's sentencing, Howard disparagingly referred to the criminal record of Thornton's father, specifically pointing to the 30-year sentence that Howard himself imposed last year." Gov. Bush can look to his own family for an example of this kind of tragedy and how the legal system can deal compassionately with tragic traffic accidents. When his sister-in-law and our country's first lady was 17 years old, the then Laura Welch ran a stop sign in Midland, Texas, striking a car and killing a young man. In that case, no charges were filed. More on Ric Howard...

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#2)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:40 PM EST
    On the bright side...he'd be in a noose if he stole beer in Singapore. I'd bet this kid does more time than Ken Lay, Dennis Koslowski, and Bernie Ebbers combined. What a country!

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#3)
    by jen on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:40 PM EST
    I was a bit confused by the dates
    A second request for clemency was sent in November 2003
    Did they mean 2005? Is getting stabbed in the neck just SOP for juviniles in prisons? a perfectly ok thing to happen to children who have done heinous things like steal potato chips and beer?

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#4)
    by Nowonmai on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:40 PM EST
    10 yrs, stabbed in the neck all for a 50 cent bag of potato chips and a 6 pack? Minor shoplifting where in any other case he would have had to pay restitution and go on probabtion? WTF are these lawmakers thinking? Or is it the point that they aren't thinking??

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#5)
    by yudel on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:40 PM EST
    Is this an elected judge? Someone needs to start running campaigns against "Cruel-to-Children" judges and politicians. Otherwise, judges and politicians will happily hang how many people it takes to avoid being defeated for "soft on crime" beliefs.

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:40 PM EST
    check out this movie i think it is in line with this topic Jailbait 2004 - USA - Prison Film Type: Features Distributor: Kindred Media Group Rating: NR Starring: Michael Pitt Directed by: Brett C. Leonard PLOT DESCRIPTION Acclaimed playwright Brett C. Leonard makes his feature-film debut as the writer and director of the prison drama, Jailbait, which was inspired, in part, by Leonard's feelings about mandatory sentencing laws. Randy (Michael Pitt of The Dreamers) is a young prisoner, recently sentenced to 25 years. His new cellmate is Jake (Stephen Adly-Guirgis, also a respected New York playwright, and the star of Todd Solondz's Palindromes), a hardened lifer. Randy seems despondent, and is reluctant to speak to Jake at all, but the older con gives him a book to read and is generous with advice. Gradually, Randy opens up. He's been convicted of vandalizing an expensive car. The sentence was severe because it was his third offense. His other two convictions were for possession of large quantities of marijuana. But Jake refuses to feel sorry for Randy, telling him that he was stupid for committing another crime when he knew his situation. Eventually, Jake's friendly cajoling turns to bullying. By the time Randy's mother (Laila Robins) comes to visit him, he has to hide the visible signs of Jake's abuse. When Randy's efforts to regain control of his prison life are thwarted, he considers taking more drastic action. Jailbait had its world premiere at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#7)
    by BigTex on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:40 PM EST
    WTF are these lawmakers thinking?
    Probabally that this is buglary of a habitation or if not by a technicality just a step from burglary of a habitation. This is a serious event, the trivial amount of what was stolen notwithstanding. He went into someone else's garage (was it an attached garage or detached?) and stole property. This is no different in principle than going into a home and stealing 18K worth of jewelry.

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#8)
    by jen on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:40 PM EST
    Thats a stretch, BigTex

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:40 PM EST
    This judge should be prosecuted for "crimes against humanity."

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#10)
    by Al on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:40 PM EST
    BigTex:
    This is no different in principle than going into a home and stealing 18K worth of jewelry.
    Then maybe next time that's what he should do. I mean, if the odds of getting caught are the same and the penalty is the same whether he steals beer or jewelry, why pick the beer?

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#11)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:40 PM EST
    Yep, that kid could have grown up to be president of the United States. Better to have nipped it in the bud.

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#12)
    by roger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:40 PM EST
    Tex has it dead on for the legal reasoning. This is why scoresheets are a bad idea.

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#13)
    by jen on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:40 PM EST
    taking a sixpack of beer from an open garage breaking and entering a house at night and stealing 5 figures in jewelry and y'all don't see a difference? A sixteen year old and an adult. One took a six pack of beer the other destroyed the life of a sixteen year old and nearly got it ended. I *do* see a difference. In both cases.

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#14)
    by Nowonmai on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:41 PM EST
    This is no different in principle than going into a home and stealing 18K worth of jewelry.
    We are talking about a minor, charged as an adult for snitching a bag of chips, fergossakes. This 'logic' is more than a stretch. It's ludicrious.

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#15)
    by Nowonmai on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:41 PM EST
    Tex has it dead on for the legal reasoning. This is why scoresheets are a bad idea.
    Months earlier, Adam had been charged as an adult for theft of a bag of potato chips from his school lunchroom. This charge was dropped, but according to the law, once charged as an adult, you cannot be charged as a juvenile.
    The point being missed is that he was charged as an adult when he was a minor, for an bag of chips. Because of that, the swiping of the beer couldn't be charged as a minor (child, not insignficant) offense because he had been charged as an adult for a offence that would have normally meritted restitution and probation. He should have been charged as a minor for the 'great chip incident' not as an adult. That is what put him in jail for 10 years. Not some perceived "it could have been 18k worth of jewelry".

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#16)
    by Quaker in a Basement on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:41 PM EST
    Hey, he stole beer, for cryin' out loud. I, for one, sleep better knowing he's no longer a threat to my way of life.

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#17)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:41 PM EST
    His sentence was the result of previously being charged as an adult for the school cafeteria theft, why the heck was he charged as an adult for that? A google search turned up little more info except this from another blog: "Prosecutors privy to his juvenile record reported he'd struck a teacher, gone after his ma with a bat, battered a juvenile home employee, stole from a school cafeteria." So the kid is bad news. No, being bipolar and/or ADHD does not give anyone the right to physically assault others and/or steal their property and not be held accountable. I imagine the judge took the entirety of the kid's criminal history into account when he sentenced him. All that said, 10 years is ludicrous.

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#18)
    by kdog on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:41 PM EST
    This stupid sentence only delays dealing with the problem of a kid with severe behavior problems. In ten years, society has to deal with him again, except he will be more violent and have an ax to grind with society for sending him away for ten years of sexual abuse.

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#19)
    by Jlvngstn on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:41 PM EST
    Thanks for the expansion of info SU. I can understand the violence stemming from the bipolar especially unmedicated, but cannot buy the adhd role. If only this get tough sentencing were consistent, like a child of a politician....

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#20)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:42 PM EST
    "Prosecutors privy to his juvenile record reported
    I would suggest prosecutors are not objective parties and not above lying. I recommend this article for an equally 'balanced' view. Excerpt from after the chips incident:
    After completing the program, he returned to Citrus High School on the recommendation from his counselors. He earned a place on the "A" honor roll. While attending the awards breakfast, a teacher asked, "What are you doing here? You don't belong with these kids."


    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#21)
    by Johnny on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:43 PM EST
    I would love to see the drug addicted Bush niece made an example of. Come on Jeb, put your money where your mouth is. Better to throw this kid in for life than release him after ten years of prison. The wrong wing will literally froth at the mouth when he gets out and commits another heinous crime.

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#22)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun May 14, 2006 at 06:54:44 AM EST
    When I was that age as stupid as I was, I went into someones garage and stole a $1,000 set of Callaway golf clubs. $1,000!!! I was arrested given probation and teen court. I was finished in a year and it was the worst, most embarssing experience of my life... This kid stole a six pack, even if it was imported, were talking tops $8.00. He should have been sentenced with the intent to rehabilitate, not hurt. This is rediculous. Ten year will ruin this kids life forever...

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#23)
    by Edger on Sun May 14, 2006 at 07:00:51 AM EST
    Johnny: Better to throw this kid in for life than release him after ten years of prison... The wrong wing will literally froth at the mouth when he gets out and commits another heinous crime. The simpleminded 'law and order and security above all else' crowd always does their best to create the problems they go to 'war' against, don't they?

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#24)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Jun 01, 2006 at 06:16:12 AM EST
    True justice would be after 10yrs of being used and abused in state prison for the kid to put a bullet in between sic ric's eyes. That would be justifiable homicide

    Re: Ten Years For Stealing Beer (none / 0) (#25)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Jun 01, 2006 at 08:06:32 AM EST
    sic Ric is to much the coward to have an e-mail but his fax number is 352-341-6705

    Ten Years For Stealing Beer | 25 comments (25 topical)