Youth Courts, a better way?

[Wry Catcher]

A university youth..is far different then a little hood gang banger "youth".

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.

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.

 

[Wry Catcher]

Why or why not is this a good idea in your view.


To me it looks like one more way for kids to game the system before they face serious trouble.

Interesting concept. If they face juries and judges who are also students, the verdicts might be a great deal harsher.

Of course some kids will 'game' the system, but the end game for them is juvenile court. There are volumes of data, studies and opinions on the merits of this concept. Your observation that kids will mete out grater punishments than would a probation officer or juvenile court referee/judge/commissioner are generally true. POs, prosecutors and triers of fact see serious crimes and repeat offenders, making the lesser offender too often an afterthought.

The fact that kids develop an understanding of our system of law and justice first as defendants, and later as prosecutors/jurors defense attorney's and bailiffs intrigues me. Remember too, the only way to move up in the system is to first be found to have violated a rule or law, and to successfully fulfill the terms and conditions of 'probation', i.e., write an essay, a letter of apology, complete community service, etc. and then to serve as a juror.

My initial impression is that I like the idea.

I work with young adults at universities who are self governing with only a professor or a dean as a faculty adviser. I find their panels mete out very fair, even sometimes harsher, penalties for their peers who break the rules.

However, I would always want at least one adult official being an integral part of the process.

And, if it's a violent crime I'm thinking it may be more proper to toss them in the adult criminal court.

But, my initial impression is that I like it...a lot. I reserve the right to change my mind as the discussion progresses, though.

First I've heard of these...

Youth courts are fully supervised by adults, volunteers are recruited from police agencies, probation departments and the local bar association, school personnel, the faith community and parents. An adult coordinator is needed to facilitate live scan background checks of all adult volunteers not already employed in child services agencies, and the presiding judge of the jurisdiction needs to be on a board in support of the program.

 

[MeBelle]

At my youngest's school they have a peer review program.
It seems to work well considering the infractions can range from being chronically tardy to not turning in one's homework.

It's a combo of peer pressure and peer support.

 

[syrenn]

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.

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.

Hopefully the whole process is distasteful.... and the little punks will think twice the next time round. I am not interested in what they learn. I am interested in their punishment.. no some slap on the hand by other teens. If they learn from real punishment that its a plus.

 

[Wry Catcher]

So much for an intelligent debate on the substantive issue of Juvenile Justice. Some might benefit from the movie "A Clockwork Orange", though I have no doubt the result of Alex's teatment is beyond the understanding of many.