Seeking list of crimes committed by Ferris Bueller during his Day off.
posted by steinwald to Media & Arts (81 answers total) 217 users marked this as a favorite

 

Well, just to get the ball rolling...

At the restaurant, on the phone with the Maitre D' he says, "This is Sgt. Peterson, Chicago Police."

Violation of 720 ILCS 5/32-5.1: False Personation of a Peace Officer. A person who knowingly and falsely represents himself or herself to be a peace officer commits a Class 4 felony.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:39 AM on April 25, 2009

Add a couple of federal laws…

Odometer fraud (tampering): 49 U.S.C. § 32703(2)
Odometer fraud (conspiracy): 49 U.S.C. § 32703(4)
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:47 AM on April 25, 2009

Fantastic! keep it up!
posted by steinwald at 9:49 AM on April 25, 2009

Also, in the movie Ferris was a graduating Senior, while Sloan still had a year left. It is entirely possible Ferris could have been older than 18, which introduces more-than-a-few wrinkles like contributing to the delinquency of a minor (though no statutory rape, at least on-screen).
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:52 AM on April 25, 2009

I don't remember the movie well enough to count every single moving violation, but we can presume there's at least some speeding, right?
posted by box at 9:59 AM on April 25, 2009

720 ILCS 5/Art. 16D - 3 - computer tampering (when he changes his attendance record).
posted by limon at 10:17 AM on April 25, 2009

Truancy, small potatoes compared to Class 4 felony, but still.
Some trespassing as well
posted by edgeways at 10:25 AM on April 25, 2009

At the restaurant, on the phone with the Maitre D' he says, "This is Sgt. Peterson, Chicago Police."

I think it is Cameron, not Ferris, who impersonates the cop on the phone. The voice and accent sound the same as when Cameron pretends to be Sloan's father in the call to the principal.
posted by thinman at 10:41 AM on April 25, 2009 [8 favorites]

Stealing, destroying, altering, or secreting public record -- A.R.S. § 38-421
posted by puckish at 10:41 AM on April 25, 2009

I would like a comprehensive list of each offense Ferris and his friends commit

It seems that the asker doesn't just want Ferris' crimes, but Cameron's and Sloan's as well. I'm not sure whether the taking of Cameron's father's car can be considered stealing, but I suppose the father could press charges if he really wanted to. I mean, it wasn't their car and they didn't get permission to use it.
posted by Green With You at 11:10 AM on April 25, 2009

Trespassing - how many yards did he cut through as he was trying to race Jeannie (and his mom) home at the end?
posted by hangashore at 11:26 AM on April 25, 2009

... and edgeways beats me to it. Geez.
posted by hangashore at 11:28 AM on April 25, 2009

There are many cases of fraud in the movie. For example, when one kid is asked, "Do you know Ferris Bueller," he responds, "Yeah, he's getting me out of summer school."

How? Via computer, or just talking to the right person? Has Ferris already put a plan into action? Is Ferris getting paid to do this, either in cash or (more likely) a favor? Or is the kid merely deluded, in which case, is Ferris perpetrating a fraud against him?

Oh, and in theory, Cameron's father could go after both Ferris and Cameron for grand theft auto of the Ferrari.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:58 AM on April 25, 2009

There's got to be some kind of disorderly conduct involved in stepping onto someone else's parade float, singing your own songs, and generally disrupting the planned program.

And I have to wonder, with all of the "Save Ferris" efforts, can he be prosecuted for fraud?
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 1:24 PM on April 25, 2009

what kind of beef can you get for impersonating the Sausage King of Chicago?
posted by timsteil at 1:29 PM on April 25, 2009 [16 favorites]

There's got to be some kind of disorderly conduct involved in stepping onto someone else's parade float, singing your own songs, and generally disrupting the planned program.

720 ILCS 5/26‑1 Minimum 30 hours' community service.

Lots of statutes and case law regarding fraudulent charities. IANAL.

Please tell me this question is for the most awesome law school term paper ever.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 1:36 PM on April 25, 2009 [2 favorites]

Excellent! Thanks for the statute cites, everybody!
I'm actually planning an attorney training event about how to handle juvenile criminal record expungement cases, so I need some adorable and sympathetic examples of teenage crime. After all, if Ferris (and his friends) had been successfully prosecuted for all the things they did it would have been such a tragedy.
posted by steinwald at 1:47 PM on April 25, 2009 [28 favorites]

Simply possessing certain breeds of dog can makes you liable by default, so is he on the hook for bodiliy injury by allowing his dog (is it a Rottweiler?) to attack Ed Rooney?

His sister Jean tries to pass herself off as "Shawna." Not sure if that counts, or how old she is.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 1:49 PM on April 25, 2009

Whose pool do they swim in? Not clear if they are at Ferris' house or Cameron's or Sloane's.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 1:50 PM on April 25, 2009

I'm not sure you could go after Ferris for fraud specifically for all the "Save Ferris" shenanigans, because they seem to happen spontaneously, without his knowledge, just because he's such a righteous dude. And, beyond the piles of flowers left for him, he doesn't receive any benefits (at least none that we see in the film).

When I mention fraud, I'm talking about things like misrepresenting himself as Abe Froman, and taking his reservation. Presumably, if the real Abe Froman had showed up (which we don't see in the film, so he may not have), he may have left the restaurant in a huff, resulting in the restaurant losing future business and business considerations from "the sausage king of Chicago."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:02 PM on April 25, 2009

You should check out the movie "Superbad" as well. Lots of loveable violations in it as well.
posted by elle.jeezy at 4:01 PM on April 25, 2009

For examples with African Americans committing loveable crimes, try "House Party" and "Money Can't Buy Me Love".
posted by elle.jeezy at 4:19 PM on April 25, 2009 [1 favorite]

Of course Ferris's sister Jeanie gets arrested by the cops for making what they think is a prank phone call. That's how she winds up at the police station for her movie-stealing scene with Charlie Sheen.

There might also be a property or even environmental crime involved when Cameron smashes his dad's Ferrari out the back of the garage.

And Rooney thinks that Sloane and her "father" (ie, Ferris) are committing some sort of incest when he picks her up from school....). Alright, I think I went a bit too far, huh.
posted by DavidNYC at 5:11 PM on April 25, 2009

Assuming that Sloane is legally a minor and that Ferris is eighteen and thus a legal adult, wouldn't falsely signing her out of her school (who are acting in loco parentis) technically be considered kidnapping?
posted by Asparagirl at 8:32 PM on April 25, 2009

Considering how hard he egged Cameron into going, and that he also got Sloane to go along, he might also be guilty of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Frickin' awesome askmefi question!
posted by azpenguin at 10:45 PM on April 25, 2009

Yeah.
720 ILCS 130/2a, contributing to the delinquency of children. Class A misdemeanor.
posted by Plutor at 7:44 AM on April 26, 2009

My guess is that the computer related crimes were not yet law in 1986.
posted by anathema at 8:22 AM on April 26, 2009

Couple minor items - seems like the 2 guys at the garage who took the Ferrari for a joyride could be up for some breach of contract. Or some interaction with the parking garage. Also Rooney's admin, Grace - sniffing the white out seems like a drug violation.
One small point - with the car wrecked I'm not sure if they ever cracked open the odometer since running it in reverse wasn't working.
What a great question - I'm replaying the movie in my head!
posted by bhdad at 8:24 AM on April 26, 2009 [1 favorite]

He's jaywalking near the beginning of the chase home scene.
posted by DU at 9:04 AM on April 26, 2009 [2 favorites]

Ed Rooney's bona fide suspicion of incest between Sloane and her "dad" triggers his duty to notify authorities under the Illinois mandatory reporting law. His failure to do so is a Class A misdemeanor. (Poetic license: it looks like this law was not yet in effect in 1985).
posted by Saucy Intruder at 9:57 AM on April 26, 2009 [9 favorites]

As far as the whole float thing goes I think inciting a riot might hold ground. "Plea down to jaywalking Ferris".
posted by Kale Slayer at 11:08 AM on April 26, 2009 [1 favorite]

anathema wrote:
My guess is that the computer related crimes were not yet law in 1986.

You guess wrongly. The first federal law against computer trespass, amongst other things, was passed in 1984.
posted by wierdo at 11:08 AM on April 26, 2009

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 1984. But originally it only covered computers belonging to the US government or to financial institutions.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:30 AM on April 26, 2009

@wierdo:

The first may have been passed in 1984, but these specifically were likely not law in '86.
posted by Precision at 1:08 PM on April 26, 2009

The laws about unauthorized use of computers were substantially revised after the Morris Worm in 1988.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 2:30 PM on April 26, 2009

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, 1984. But originally it only covered computers belonging to the US government or to financial institutions.

Yeah, that was a different Matthew Broderick vehicle. Ferris can't be held responsible for David Lightman's crimes.
posted by dammitjim at 4:52 PM on April 26, 2009 [21 favorites]

He's jaywalking near the beginning of the chase home scene.

He is? I thought he was crossing the street. Jaywalking, to my understanding, is crossing on a red, not crossing a street where there is no light--otherwise, we'd never be able to cross a street that didn't have a streetlight.

How about the car theft that the parking attendants (Richard Edson!) pull?
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 7:43 PM on April 26, 2009

Could they have been drinking beer at Wrigley? I seem to remember them with clear cups full of amber fluid, but I can't find video of it.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:20 PM on April 26, 2009

When it comes to commandeering the float, I always got the feeling that he did that with the permission and participation of the float crew -- either he was friend with them, or just charmed his way into it. After all, they provided the music for both of his songs.
posted by scrowdid at 11:17 PM on April 26, 2009

Just a point of clarification - Sgt Peterson is Sloan's father (she's Sloan Peterson), hence Cameron using the same voice for both phone calls.

Fun question!
posted by goo at 1:06 AM on April 27, 2009 [4 favorites]

I can't help but think that the little old lady who can barely be seen above the steering wheel is committing some sort of moving violation involving driving with an obstructed view.

Also, did anyone mention Rooney's home invasion crime? He does, after all, enter the house illegally.
posted by Joey Michaels at 4: