PFP104 – Term Paper
The movie Sleepers (1996) tells the story of four boys who become involved with the criminal justice system. Assume, for the purposes of this paper, that the boys are 13 and 14 years old, live in Canada, and are charged with the following offences under the Criminal Code:
1. Theft under $5,000 (for stealing the hot dogs)
2. Mischief over $5,000 (For damaging the hot dog vendor’s cart)
3. Criminal Negligence causing bodily harm (for the harm to the man injured coming up the stairs)
Write a paper that accomplishes the following:
1. Compare and Contrast the principles of restorative justice embodied by the Youth Criminal Justice Act with the principles of retributive justice used to deal with the boys in the movie, especially (but not only) in the areas of sentencing and the use of custody.
2. Provide your perspective as to whether restorative or retributive justice principles should have been used to deal with the boys and explain why. Explain how the principles you advocate for would address the boy’s criminal behavior.
Summary of Sleeper’s
Four boys, (Lorenzo “Shakes” Carcaterra, Tommy Marcano, Michael Sullivan, and John Reilly)growing up in Hell’s Kitchen play a prank that leads to an old man getting hurt. Sentenced to no less than one year in the Wilkinson Center in upstate New York, the four friends are changed by the beating, humiliation and sexual abuse by the guards sworn to protect them. Thirteen years later and a chance meeting lead to a chance for revenge against the Wilkinson Center and the guards.
In the summer of 1967, their lives take a turn when they accidentally almost kill a man after pulling a prank on a hot dog vendor. As punishment, the boys are sentenced to the Wilkinson Home for Boys in Upstate New York; Tommy, Michael and John sentenced to 12-18 months, while Shakes is given 6-12 months. There, the boys are systematically abused and raped by guards Sean Nokes, Henry Addison, Ralph Ferguson, and Adam Styler. The horrifying abuse changes the boys and their friendship forever.