Is it true that students at James Madison University under the age of 21 must hide from police in order to avoid being charged and convicted of underage possession of alcohol- all charged are fined?

Answer 1

At James Madison University (JMU), a police officer may grab any young person under 21 at any time or place; accuse them of having consumed alcohol; and write them a summons. The young person will not be warned about what is happening to him/her - they are not even told that they are being arrested and there is no Miranda warning. He or she is not be tested for alcohol consumption - no breath or urine test. It doesn't matter if the young person was drinking or not. That person is charged. The General District Court of Rockingham County will prosecute and sentence that individual. The courts consistently uphold the officer's charge.

Each year more than 900 JMU students are charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor, the most serious level of crime below a felony. It is on the same level as assault & battery (Virginia Code § 18.2-57 - Assault and battery). Under the 5th Admendment, citizens are protected from involuntary self incrimination. In all criminal cases, police are reqiired to provide a Miranda warning prior to asking questions aimed at conviction. It doesn't matter whether an interrogation occurs in a jail or at the scene of a crime, on a busy downtown street, or the middle of an open field: If a person is in custody (deprived of his or her freedom of action in any significant way), the police must give a Miranda warning if they want to question the suspect and use the suspect's answers as evidence at trial. JMU police do not do this. They arrest, interrogate and use the young person's answers as evidence. JMU procedures also violate the "due process" provisions of the 5th Admendment.

The right to "due process" assures that everyone gets treated the same. If due process was being observed, all citizens in the state of Virginia would be arrested, charged and prosequted for public intoxication. Why, because public intoxication is prohibited under Virginia Code § 18.2-388. The process being observed at JMU is that there need be no attempt on the part of law enforcement or the courts to determine if anyone is actually drunk. All that is necessary is that a law exists and a police officer decides to charge someone. Case closed! So if we were all being treated the same, we would all have a criminal record.