Article 1:  Mixed feelings over Philadelphia's flash-mob curfew

 
Philadelphia's authorities have ordered a weekend evening curfew for under-18 years old in an
effort to deter teenagers from wreaking havoc in so-called flash mobs. As Britain looks to
America for answers to the rioting that has rocked England over the last week, the BBC's Laura
Trevelyan visits Philadelphia to see how its new measures will work.The phenomenon known as
flash mobbing, where groups of teenagers gather after alerting one another via mobile phone,
Twitter and Facebook and rampage through the town centre, has frightened residents and
alarmed Philadelphia's city government.

 While the scenes haven't been as violent or as sustained as those in urban England in recent days,
crowds of teenagers have beaten and robbed people and shops have been damaged.
Last Friday 7 August saw yet more trouble in the City of Brotherly Love.
An existing curfew for children has been made even earlier, and parents whose children
repeatedly ignore the order could be fined up to $500 (£307). Philadelphia will keep some
recreation centres open until 22:00 at the weekends so that the children barred from the city
centre will have something to do. At a basketball court in South Philadelphia, I asked a group of
teenagers what they thought about the curfew and the flash mobbing which led to it. Keri Scott,
16, and his friend Marcus were worried about the youths displaced by the curfew who might now
come and play on their basketball court.

"That means now we're going to have bad people coming to a good court, and it's not cool," said
Keri, who hopes to try out for a college basketball team. Ben, 16, welcomed the curfew as a way
to create a safe environment. He can't see the point of flash mobbing. Although Jennifer, 15, has
never been in a flash mob she sees it as a way for teens to express their anger and frustration and
to force adults to listen to them.

She says the curfew will make teenagers more "mad".In Philadelphia's city centre, 25 police officers will patrol on bicycles on weekend nights. The
bicycles can be used to form a barricade against a flash mob.
Kevin Bethel, the deputy commissioner of Philadelphia's police department, said police have
asked popular DJs to spread the message about the curfew.
Deputy Commissioner Bethel says his prayers are with Britain's police as he sees what they are
dealing with. The challenge to policing on both sides of the Atlantic is how to manage groups
that "can organise and move so quickly", he said. Philadelphia's deputy mayor for public safety,
Everett Gillison, also stressed the importance of firmness and engagement. He hoped the curfew
would encourage parents to become stricter with their children. "We need parents to say, 'the city
is not your parent, I'm your parent. I need you to be home'," he said. As Ms Guendelsberger
learns to move about on her crutches, she wonders how effective the curfew can be in the end. "I
sound like I'm apologising for these kids and I'm not," she said. "What they did was horrible. But
we should at least explore why they feel they've got nothing to lose."

Discussion questions
1) What do you think of this case? Is it really a crime? Why? Why not?
2) What is the role of social media in these crimes?
3) Do you think that social media have changed the way people interact with one another?
Does this have any influence over law and legal practice?
4) Should authorities use force to halt these crimes?
5) What do you think of the measures adopted in Philadelphia? What would you do to more
effectively handle these incidents?

Article 2:   "Sexomnia" Defense Gets Man Acquittal on Sexual Assault Charges

Officials in Ontario plan to review the case of a man who was accused of sexual assault,
but was acquitted after it found that he suffers from "sexomnia" and was asleep when the
incident occurred, Reuters reported.
Jan Luedecke, 33, was acquitted of the charges last Tuesday. A sleep expert testified on
Luedecke's behalf, confirming the man's claims that he has "sexomnia", a disease which
causes involuntary sexual behavior during sleep.
Because of the strange circumstances surrounding the case, Ontario officials said they
have to put forth further research before deciding on appeal options.
"This matter will be carefully considered to determine our next steps," Brendan
Crawley, a spokesman for the Attorney General told Reuters.

Discussion questions
1) What do you think of this decision? Do you agree? Do you disagree? Why? Why not?
2) Why do we criminalize conduct?
3) Is it good policy to give the state a virtual monopoly on the use of force?
4) Do we rely too much on criminal law to solve societal conflicts?
5) Can you think of alternative systems to deal with deviance in society?

Article 3:  Russian cannibal made meatballs and sausage out of victim and posted videos online

A 21-year-old chef stabbed and killed a victim in his home before eating the man's remains,
police said.
A young Russian man who was curious about the taste of human flesh stabbed a man to death
and then made meatballs and sausage out of his corpse, the Ria Novosti news agency reported.
"The accused stabbed the man a few times, and after having assured himself that the man was
dead, he cut up his body and ate him," an official told Ria Novosti.
If that weren't wicked enough, the 21-year-old cannibal, a chef in the Arctic city of Murmansk,
made sick videos of himself turning his victim's flesh into meals and then posted them online, the
Daily Mail reported.
But cops quickly took them down from the Internet.
The killer, who was not named in news reports, confessed after cops tracked him down earlier
this month. He told police that he had plans to kill and eat at least 10 more people.
He also told investigators he found his victim on a gay website. He said he chose to target a gay
man because he believed gay men are more discreet about online relationships, Ria Novosti
reported.
Authorities were led to the killer by the victim's mother, who reported her son missing and
instructed police to look into his circle of online partners.
If convicted of murder, the man faces 15 years in prison.

Discussion questions
1) Is this a crime? Why? Why not?
2) What is the role of social media in this crime?
3) What measures can be taken to deter this type of crime?
4) What is, if any, the role of the victim in this crime?

Article 4:  Autistic boy handcuffed

TORONTO - Surely there‘s a better way for police to deal with an unruly child with special
needs than slapping him with handcuffs and treating him like a criminal.
―That wouldn‘t be appropriate for any child,‖ insisted Dr. Glenn Rampton, the CEO of Kerry‘s
Place Autism Services, which serves 5,000 clients with autism disorders across Southern
Ontario. ―I can‘t imagine anyone would think that would be an appropriate way to deal with a
nine-year-old kid.‖
Yet Toronto Police are actually defending their treatment of a young boy with Asperger‘s
syndrome after they were called to Fairbank Memorial Day Care Centre on July 28 by staff who
had locked the nine-year-old in a classroom.
―We got a call that this boy was out of control and he was a danger to himself,‖ explained Const.
Victor Kwong. ―One officer had to wait for backup because this kid was being aggressive — he
barricaded himself with tables and chairs, he had thrown paint all over the room. The police
pushed open the door and told him to lie down and they cuffed him.‖
Kwong said the handcuffs were removed about five minutes later once the mobile crisis
intervention team arrived and calmed him down.
―We don‘t like to handcuff children but safety is the No. 1 issue here and if it‘s called for, we
will do it,‖ he said. ―The police officers did everything right.‖
But why didn‘t they wait for the crisis team — with an officer trained in mental-health issues and
a registered nurse with more than 30 years experience — instead of terrifying a developmentally
disabled child?
―There was no telling how long it would have been,‖ Kwong maintained.

The boy‘s mother is understandably outraged. Instead of waiting for her to arrive to defuse the
situation, the daycare called 911.
―Our staff are not able to restrain a child nor should they,‖ explained Peter Frampton, director of
the centre‘s parent organization, the Learning Enrichment Foundation.
Once she arrived, she couldn‘t believe her son had been handcuffed by police. ―My son is
traumatized, I‘m traumatized, My son is devastated,‖ Linda Dastous told a reporter. ―It‘s
something my son is never ever going to forget.‖
The boy blamed his tantrum on being bullied during the lunch hour. Children with autistic
spectrum disorder can often have outbursts when they become frustrated, Dr. Rampton said. But
there are far better ways of dealing with the situation — such as avoiding the triggers and
defusing their anger — than mechanically restraining them.
―Why would two great big policemen need to put handcuffs on a nine-year-old when they should
be fully capable of calming that child down?‖ the psychologist demanded. ―Maybe they
shouldn‘t go out on a call like that unless they‘re trained to deal with it.‖
Autism Ontario spent Tuesday fielding calls from distraught parents.
―It‘s very distressing,‖ said executive director Margaret Spoelstra. ―I had a mother in tears
saying, ‗How is it possible that this could happen in our city that we don‘t have enough
information out there that you can‘t treat people with autism spectrum disorder — and a nineyear-old — in this way?‘ ‖
Her organization has offered training to Toronto Police but unlike their colleagues in Ottawa,
few have taken advantage of it. ―To me, the most important thing is training and public
awareness. There is a way to respond and a way to de-escalate,‖ Spoelstra said. ―I‘d be very
concerned about the impact on this boy.‖
Just imagine his fear.
―They busted through the door with their shoulders,‖ he told a reporter. ―And then they said,
‗Get on the ground,‘ so I got on the ground. Two cops grabbed my arms and then he took the
cuffs and put them on me.‖
Toronto Police say they later reassured him that he wasn‘t in trouble and gave him and his mom
a ride home. ―The boy left with a handshake and a hug. He seemed to understand the situation,‖
Kwong insisted.
Not quite so, it seems.
―I still feel scared of the police,‖ the poor child said. ―And whenever I see a cop car, I hold my
mom‘s hand."

Discussion questions
1) Is this a crime? Why? Why not?
2) If you were the teacher, would you have called the police? If not, what would you have
done instead?
3) If you were the police officer, would you have handcuffed the child? If not, what would
you have done instead?
4) Do we rely too much on criminal law to solve societal conflicts?
5) Can you think of alternative systems to deal with deviance in society?