This post is used as source material for Prof. Blankenship’s courses
Officer Jane Martinez had always been dedicated to her job at the Midtown Police Department. As a single mother, she balanced her responsibilities with the precision of a tightrope walker. But even the most skilled acrobat can lose their footing, and one fateful day, Jane found herself on shaky ground.
It was a hectic morning, as many were. Jane had just finished her overnight shift and was rushing to take her three-year-old daughter, Bella, to daycare before catching a few hours of sleep. In her exhaustion, she buckled Bella directly into the back seat instead of her usual car seat. Even though Bella only weighed 35 pounds, getting her in the car seat was exhausting sometimes. It was a mistake, a momentary lapse in judgment.
As Jane pulled out of their driveway, she noticed the flashing lights of a patrol car in her rear-view mirror. Her heart sank; she knew immediately what she had done. The officer who approached her car was Officer Davis, a colleague, and friend from the department.
“Jane,” Davis began, his expression solemn, “you know I can’t ignore Bella not being in a car seat.”
Jane nodded, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “I know, Davis. It was a mistake. I’m just… I’m really tired.”
Davis looked at her sympathetically. He understood the pressures of their job and the struggles of parenthood. He let out a sigh, then made a decision. “I’m not going to write you a ticket, Jane,” he said. “But you need to correct this immediately. I don’t want to see Bella riding without a car seat again.”
Jane thanked Davis and drove straight home to fetch the car seat. She thought that was the end of the matter. However, a passerby captured the incident on video, and it soon reached the upper ranks of the Midtown Police Department.
A few days later, Jane was summoned to the office of her superior, Captain Hayes. “Jane,” Hayes said, “We’ve received a complaint about an incident involving you, your child, and a missing car seat. As a police officer, you’re expected to uphold the law, not break it.”
Jane felt her stomach drop. She explained the situation, her exhaustion, and her split-second decision. But Hayes remained unmoved. “Regardless of the reasons, you’ve violated the department’s code of ethics, Jane. There will be consequences.”
In the following weeks, Jane faced an internal investigation. She was formally charged with an ethics violation.
Brandon L. Blankenship is an assistant professor, continuing legal education presenter, and business educator. He and his wife Donnalee live on their hobby farm south of Birmingham, Alabama.
This post is used as source material for Prof. Blankenship’s courses.
Officer Theandra “T” Bose was proud to be a law enforcement officer in the State of Ohio. She was the first person in her family to graduate college and the first person to have a job with benefits. Officer Bose was proud of her accomplishments and she was also lonely. Working a full-time job and being a full-time college student didn’t leave a lot of time for friends, family, or socializing at all.
Officer Bose’s Police Department had adopted the Code of Ethics of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. After three years of experience, other Department policies allowed her to accept private security contract(s) for payment provided that it did not interfere with her scheduled work hours. She was still the lowest rank in her department and so she was in the lowest pay scale. Officer Bose’s first private security job was at a wedding. She needed the money.
Right before Officer Bose started with the Department, all but 10% of the senior officers retired in response to a new program implemented by the Department (in cooperation with the State Retirement Fund) to reduce costs. Even though the measure did reduce costs, inexperienced officers, like Office Bose, were often left with little guidance and had to figure things out for themselves.
Officer Bose worked the hours required to satisfy her private security contract without incident. Most of the wedding guests had left and as she was leaving, one of the guests invited her to stay for a post-wedding party. Officer Bose stayed for the post-wedding party. It was actually nicer than the wedding reception. The DJ moved to a small banquet room, two open bars were waiting and the food service was really good (better than the cucumber sandwiches at the wedding reception).
A guest ask Officer Bose if they could touch her badge. “Sure,” she said. “After all,” she thought, “the Department is always asking us to do things to help our public image.”
“Wow, your badge is heavier than I thought it would be,” the guest said. Then the guest started showing the badge to other guests and letting them feel how heavy it was.
At some point, Office Bose noticed a small group of people in the back with a powder that looked like cocaine. She looked around and found the person who invited her to the post-wedding party.
“Hey, is that what I think it is?” Office Bose asked.
In response, the guest offered Officer Bose a rolled-up dollar bill.
It took Officer Bose 30-45 minutes to track down her badge and leave.
After the party, a video circulated via TikTok of the wedding party showing a man holding a police badge. Text on the video suggested that “one or more people at the residence had sniffed cocaine off the back side” of Bose’s badge.
An internal investigation ensued against Officer Bose.
In Ohio, Cocaine is a Schedule II drug. Its possession, promotion, sale, distribution, manufacturing, and /or trafficking is a felony. Specifically, Ohio law provides that:
Possession of a Controlled Substance ( § 2925.11(C)(4) ORC)
Cocaine possession is a felony of the fifth degree in Ohio. If the defendant was found to have five grams of cocaine or more, it is a fourth-degree felony. Between 10 and 20 grams is a third-degree felony. Between 20 and 27 grams is a second-degree felony. Between 27 and 100 grams is a first-degree felony.
Trafficking and Selling Drugs ( § 2925.03 ORC)
Trafficking in cocaine is a felony of the fifth degree. If the offense was done in front of children or close to a school, or within 5 to 10 grams, it is a fourth-degree felony. Between 10 and 20 grams is a third-degree felony. Between 20 and 27 is a second-degree felony, and between 27 and 100 is a felony of the first-degree.
Illegal Manufacture of Drugs ( § 2925.04 ORC)
Illegally manufacturing a drug listed in Schedule II is a felony of the second degree in Ohio. The charge is increased to a felony of the first degree if it occurred in front of a juvenile or within the vicinity of a school.
Brandon L. Blankenship is an assistant professor, continuing legal education presenter, and business educator. He and his wife Donnalee live on their hobby farm south of Birmingham, Alabama.
When testing the constitutionality of government action, Courts determine first if there is a basis for the government action. Next, the court determines if the government action impacts an individual right. If so, the quality of the government basis is weighed against the quality of the individual right. The highest form of an individual right is a fundamental right. A list of established fundamental rights follows:
The Right to Procreate is a Fundamental Right
In Skinner v. Oklahoma, 316 U.S. 535 (1942), the U.S. Supreme Court held that strict scrutiny of the classification that a State makes in a sterilization law is essential, lest unwittingly, or otherwise, invidious discriminations are made against groups or types of individuals in violation of the constitutional guaranty of just and equal laws.
The Right to Travel is a Fundamental Right
In Shapiro v. Thompson, 394 U.S. 618 (1969), the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed the right to travel under the 14th Amendment’s Privileges and Immunities clause in Saenz v. Roe (1999) and held that government action that impacted free movement between the states required strict scrutiny.
Brandon L. Blankenship is an assistant professor, continuing legal education presenter, and business educator. He and his wife Donnalee live on their hobby farm south of Birmingham, Alabama.
“Song for Justice” is a stand-alone version of a movement from the large-scale work “Tuvayhun – Beatitudes for a Wounded World.” That is what my faith teaches, to come along side a wounded world with beatitudes.
These lyrics follows Matt 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
Restorative justice advocates … argue that when the state takes over in our name, it undermines our sense of community.1
This phenomenon can also be observed when a response to an injustice or harm is commercialized. People may think, “I gave to the church so I have no personal responsibility to give to the poor or feed the hungry.” Or, “isn’t that why I pay taxes?”
Restorative leadership maintains a sense of personal responsibility even when a personal objective becomes a community objective.
Brandon L. Blankenship is an assistant professor, continuing legal education presenter, and business educator. He and his wife Donnalee live on their hobby farm south of Birmingham, Alabama.
