Lansing Teen Court uses peer justice to rehabilitate juvenile offenders

Dansville High School students are jurors for six cases By Roberta M. Gubbins Legal News At 9:30 a m on Tuesday, December 15th, Lansing Teen Court student bailiff said, "Will everyone please rise. Hear ye, hear ye...the Lansing Teen Court is now in session. Honorary Judge Evelyn Calogero presiding." Everybody in the courtroom stood. Judge Calogero took her seat at the bench of the 30th Circuit Court in Mason. "Please be seated," Calogero said. After all were seated, Callogero explained that the juvenile respondents (offenders) appearing before the jury had admitted responsibility for their offense and agreed to follow the disposition (sentence) imposed by the jury for their actions. "Their parents have also agreed to the program," she added. She reminded the jury and others in the courtroom that "we are simply here to do what is right and fair for them (the respondents), the victim, and our community." The court clerk called the first case, a shoplifting charge. The parties said their names for the record, the judge read the details of the respondent's offense from the petition (the document that states the names, the facts of the case, and the harm caused by the acts of the respondent). The respondent agreed to participate on Teen Court. Calogero said to the jury, "it is your duty to determine what disposition is fair and appropriate in this case." After determining that no one on the jury knew the respondent or had personal knowledge of the matter, the peer jury was sworn in. The respondant, her parent, the prosecutor, and the student advocate spoke to the jury. Jurors were encouraged to ask questions to determine what did happen, what harm was caused, and who needs to do what to repair the harm. Questions asked included: * How has this experience changed you? In what ways? * How do you plan to regain your family's trust? * What must be done to repair the harm? When the jury completed their questioning, the parties made closing statements, the jury was ready to deliberate. Calogero gave them their final instructions, the bailiff led them to the jury deliberation room and closed the door. Following instructions, the jury selected a chairperson and a recorder. They reviewed each of the possible sanctions listed on the final disposition sheet. They discussed them in relation to the respondant who appeared before them. All the sanctions are created with the purpose of holding the person accountable and help repair the harm caused. Sanctions included: * Perform __ hours of volunteer work. * Write a personal apologies to the victim, the school and your family. * Pay restitution to the victim. * Serve as a Peer Juror * Comply with family boundaries such as home curfew, chores and family goals. * Write a personal code of ethics When agreement was reached, the bailiff led the jurors back to the courtroom, where they gave the disposition sheet to the judge to read. The respondant has one to three months to complete the sanctions, which was signed by the Judge, the respondant, their parent, and the teen court administrator. Completion of all the terms means dismissal of the charges against them. Respondants realize the impact of the harm they have caused to their parents, themselves, and the community. They also understand that diversion to teen court is a chance to repair the harm and keep them from having juvenile record. Dan Price, who teaches the Dansville High School Civics class from which the teen court participants were drawn, accompanied the students participating in Teen Court. "For the students, it is a chance to learn how the law works, take part in a legal procedure, and see that the decisions we make are important." Following their experience, Price's class made the following comments: * My experience in Teen Court helped me see how small decisions can have big consequences. It was interesting to listen to teens tell their stories. * What I liked the most about Teen Court was getting the chance to give to my community. * I enjoyed learning about what goes on inside courtrooms. * Seeing what could happen to me if I made a dumb choice is what I got out of Teen Court. * One thing I liked was delivering their consequences and I think some of the Peer Juries let people off without enough consequences. * I felt like this experience helped me learn more about the Law. * Experiencing Teen Court made me realize how one mistake can change a lot of things. Robert Easterly, the assistant prosecutor assigned to Teen Court, noted that often "we find underlying problems" in the family that need to be addressed. Teen Court is part of Child and Family Services, Capital Area, which can provide an array of programs and services to help solve or alleviate these problems. It takes a lot of people to keep Lansing Teen Court together. Mike Botke, the Director, has been overseeing the program since its inception in 2001. He thanked Don LeDuc, President and Dean of Thomas M. Cooley Law School for donating office space and IT service for Teen Court, the Honorable Tom Boyd, 55th District Court judge who was "instrumental in expanding the program." Judge Boyd was scheduled to hear the cases in the afternoon. The Ingham County Prosecutor's office screens and refers cases to Lansing Teen Court. The respondant/offender must be between the ages of 11 to 16, willing to participate and attend the hearing, admit guilt, and have no pending felony charges. The youth live in Ingham, Clinton and Eaton counties. Botke sees the program as a way "to empower the students. Their voices are heard." Lansing Teen Court began as one-year pilot project in September, 2000. Mike Botke was hired as Director in April, 200l. The program has operated successfully since that time. The Teen Court Program receives funding from Capital Area United Way, Ingham County Juvenile Justice Millage, Mid-South Substance Abuse Commission, City of Lansing Human Services and Community Relations and Lansing Mayor's Committee For Drug Free Youth and in kind donations from Thomas M. Cooley Law School and Ingham County Partner Schools. Published: Thu, Dec 31, 2009

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