Wry Catcher
Diamond Member
- Thread starter
- Banned
- #21
Very true. I'm making the assumption that the participants in the youth court, other than the criminals, are going to be exceptional high school students with respect to scholarly abilities.
A university youth..is far different then a little hood gang banger "youth".
That may be a bad assumption of mine.
If it is the case, I can picture those kids being pretty tough (relatively so, considering the punishments outlined in the OP) on other kids.
I'm thinking back to when I was in high school - it was a judgmental time for all of us.
Let me put it this way... some little punk kid who whats to perpetrate some misdemeanor or minor felony on me or my property,i really don't think a bunch of teens handing out written apologies or committee service is punishment enough.
Tag my fence... i what the kid in jail, and the parents sued for damages.
And then what? What do you believe a minor learns from a stay at Juvenile Hall?
Think through the process, and remember the crimes committed by minors referred to youth courts are not serious felonies. They are generally misdemeanors and infractions, some are simply violations of school rules or municipal codes.
Keep in mind the costs to detain a minor in Juvenile Hall, to file the petition, to have an arraignment and detention hearing and later a contested hearing (think trial) where a prosecutor must prepare his case. Then, if the petition is sustained a probation officer must prepare a full court report and appear at the dispositional hearing. Then the PO must supervise the minor in the community once the matter is adjudicated. Minors in CA are not sentenced to Juvenile Hall, it is only a holding center for kids pending adjudication.