Tuesday, July 26, 2011

DEGRASSI - Legal issues in the "Dangerous Minds" episodes

The popular teen TV show Degrassi addresses issues that are relevant to Canadian youth.  From time-to-time on this blog we will be exploring some of the legal issues that come up in Degrassi episodes.

In episodes 1101 and 1102, called “Dangerous Minds”, Drew finds himself entangled in some very serious legal issues and decides to turn himself in to the police. While standing on the school yard with his girlfriend Bianca, Drew sees his friend Dave Turner get dropped off by his police officer father.  Drew heads over the Officer Turner’s cruiser and makes a confession to Officer Turner.  The scene ends with Drew being driven away in the cop car. 

To watch the episode click HERE

When thinking about the legal issues in the Dangerous Minds episodes, here are a couple of things to remember:

1)      Drew has the right to speak to a lawyer before talking to the police, even if he willingly turned himself in.  JFCY would strongly recommend that he speak to a lawyer before talking to the police.
2)      Since Drew is under age 18, he is entitled to have a parent present during the police questioning, even if he willingly turned himself in.
3)      Anything that Drew says to the police can later be used in court.
4)      If Drew is charged with a crime, he will be dealt with under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, which sets out a court system for youth that is separate from adults.
5)      For more info, check out this JFCY pamphlet: http://www.jfcy.org/PDFs/Charged_June_2008.pdf

(Images taken from http://www.muchmusic.com/)

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