Warn Your College-Aged Child About These Criminal Offenses Over Summer Break

 Posted on June 30, 2022 in Criminal Defense

Summer is in full swing in Illinois and kids are out of school. For young adults that just graduated high school or are visiting from college for the summer, the freedom can be downright intoxicating. Add literal intoxicants like THC or alcohol, and the mix can sometimes be disastrous. 

Young adults—young men, in particular—generally still do not have a fully developed frontal lobe, which is the part of the brain responsible for making decisions and accurately predicting the consequences of those decisions. When drugs, alcohol, or peer pressure are added to the inevitable lack of maturity and underdeveloped decision-making skills that come with young age, risk-taking behaviors increase. While most activities are relatively harmless—and even those that are harmful are often escaped without causing serious damage—sometimes the consequences of poor decisions require the help of an Illinois criminal defense attorney. 

Certain Types of Crime Are More Common During Summer Months

While men and women, old and young, are all capable of committing criminal acts, certain types of crime tend to be almost exclusively committed by young men. Immaturity may not be an excuse for committing crimes, but it is at least an explanation for many of them. The most common crimes committed by young adults during the summer months include: 

• Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• Shoplifting, especially with friends or on a dare
• Graffiti, littering, and other types of vandalism
• Indecent exposure (typically being caught in public being intimate with a sexual partner)
• Loud noises, fights, and other types of disorderly conduct
• Sexual assault
• Physical assault and battery 

The punishment for each crime varies depending on the seriousness of the allegations and the defendant’s criminal history. Certainly, neither parents nor children want to see extended periods of jail time or expensive fines, to say nothing of the social costs now and later in life. Even a driver’s license suspension can have serious consequences for a young adult’s career and a permanent criminal record can be devastating for future job prospects. A great criminal defense attorney may be able to get the charges reduced or dropped altogether, often in exchange for probation or community service. 

Call a Joliet, IL Criminal Defense Lawyer

Good people make mistakes all the time. At McNamara Phelan McSteen, LLC, our experienced Will County criminal defense attorneys believe that a poor decision in the heat of the moment should not define a young adult’s future forever. To get help from a team committed to building the strongest defense possible, call us today at 815-727-0100 and schedule your free, confidential consultation. 

Source: 

https://news.yale.edu/2019/06/25/how-brain-helps-us-make-good-decisions-and-bad-ones