Warrant Leaves Md. Roofer Dazed, Jailed

Washington Post ^ | Sunday, July 25, 2004 | Paul Schwartzman

[FoxPro]

The Caribbean cruise ship docked at Port Canaveral, Fla., that morning, and Patrick and Bernadette Clerkin and their three children awoke tanned and relaxed and ready for their trip home to Maryland.

There was a knock at their cabin door. Patrick Clerkin, owner of a Brandywine roofing company, was about to take a shower, so his wife answered to find three U.S. customs agents.

Politely and almost apologetically, the agents announced that they were there to arrest Patrick Clerkin.

"This must be some kind of mistake," Bernadette Clerkin told herself as the children giggled at seeing their churchgoing father being led away.

It wasn't a mistake, and today, nearly three months later, Clerkin, 41, finds himself in a Florida jail still.

The charge dates back more than two decades to his less-than-glorious years as a hard-drinking teenager, when a police officer in Pensacola, Fla., arrested him for stealing a pair of hubcaps.

[FoxPro]

This same thing is happening to me. I have some hard line judge who wants to throw me in jail for a month for sticking something in my pocket at a grocery store 20 years ago, because my arms were full. I didn’t even leave the store. It was so long ago that I forget what I stuck in my pocket. Why didn’t I get thrown in jail 20 years ago? Because the computer didn’t talk to each other back then. They do now. This is happening all the time, all over the country. The judiciary needs to be slapped down on this. Washington DC has a law that states that a probation violation cant met out punishment after the probation period is over. Sounds reasonable to me.

This is not justice. This is despotism.

[Pittsburg Phil]

Don't these clowns in law enforcement have better things to do???

[Oztrich Boy]

Don't these clowns in law enforcement have better things to do???

Do you two want the Terrorists to win? Well do ya?

[FoxPro]

I used to be a low grade terrorist.

[somemoreequalthanothers]

I wonder if Ted Kennedy is nervous.

[Vigilanteman]

In need of money, he and another person tried to steal a pair of hubcaps off a Buick but were spotted by a police officer.

He didn't even steal the hubcaps, just tried. Until the courts decide to enforce the law on the Clintons (rape, insider trading, etc.), I'd even give the guy a pass on the $363 court cost considering what he's done with his life since.

[afnamvet]

A Florida judge sentenced Clerkin, then 19, to three years' probation, the conditions of which included that he pay $363 in court costs and notify his probation officer if he moved. Clerkin failed on both counts, which triggered a 1984 arrest warrant.

Hello?

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Gee, it's good to know we have so much extra man power in law enforcement that doesn't need to be keeping an eye on foreign Islamic terrorists planning to blow up buildings and murder thousands of Americans. I feel much safer.

Too bad (for him) he didn't rape a woman in Arkansas 20 years ago. I understand there is a much more relaxed attitude on things like that. [irony]

[Hank Rearden]

I wonder if Ted Kennedy is nervous.

Of course not. That drunken old murderous goat is one of Our Rulers. The dissolute old bastard.

[IronJack]

Do these arrest warrants not have a shelf life? Or do I really have to pay that jaywalking fine from back in the Truman administration?

[FoxPro]

He didn't even steal the hubcaps, just tried.

I didnt even steal anything, I just stuck it in my pocket because my hands were full. They called it "abuse of property".

[NurdlyPeon]

Do I detect a note of dislike for the esteemed Senator Kennedy? LMAO

[BlazingArizona]

What's the statute of limitations on forgetting to tell your probation officer you moved?

[NonValueAdded]

Let me play devil's advocate for a moment ...
Are we saying there should be a statute of limitations on arrest warrants for skipping out on fines and probation? The good news is Homeland Security is screening cruse ship passengers for a criminal history. The bad news is they waited until after the ship returned. What was the officer's discretion in this case with respect to the arrest? Could an appearance ticket be issued instead? Should he ignore the warrant? Actually, maybe that was good discretion on their part since they could have pulled him off before the cruise left. At least he got his vacation and can now clear up the fine.

[baltodog]

Where's the ACLU?

Oh, yeah, sorry....he's straight, Christian, white, and appears to be financially successful.

[Nov3]

I ended up in jail several times in my youth. I hope there are none of these waiting out there for me.

[Ajnin]

Maybe we shouldn't arrest illegal aliens, after all it's just an administrative crime it's not like they are real criminals.

[cinFLA]

Don't these clowns in law enforcement have better things to do???

So you believe that criminals should not be punished?

[cinFLA]

I'd even give the guy a pass on the $363 court cost considering what he's done with his life since.

"He returned to Greenbelt, where court records show that his penchant for trouble remained formidable. Over the next two years, he was accused of assault, a charge that was dropped, and with drinking in public. He pleaded guilty to a charge of battery in 1982 and was sentenced to 180 days in jail, all but 20 days of which was suspended."

[cinFLA]

Let me play devil's advocate for a moment ... Are we saying there should be a statute of limitations on arrest warrants for skipping out on fines and probation?

We shouldn't have to play devil's advocate to advocate that one should not skip out on his sentence.