A Youth Court in Bridgeton
By Albert B. Kelly
I’m always for trying new approaches when it comes to
dealing with certain issues. When it comes to juveniles and juvenile justice,
one new approach that I think worth trying in Cumberland County is that of
“youth courts”. I say that, because juvenile crime is something that troubles
us all, but the future of these young people is something that troubles me
more.
Youth Court seems to work well in other jurisdictions.
Pennsylvania has a pretty robust program as does the City of Newark NJ. The
basic idea behind youth court is that young people, ages 10 to 18 years old who
commit minor offenses, appear before their peers serving in the various roles
of judge, jury, and officers of the court as might be found in the adult
system.
These peers, serving in their respective roles and after
some training, are tasked with determining what an appropriate response or
intervention might be for a particular circumstance or offense. The offense
itself could be anything from a curfew violation or an act of vandalism, to
truancy or some type of disorderly person’s offense.
Why might youth court be important for dealing with these early
and relatively minor offenses? Because these offenses are usually the first
point of contact a young person has with “the system”. And if you’ve ever been
involved with the justice system, it’s got a stickiness to it that clings to a
person and its tentacles are many; court costs, fines, loss of driving
privileges, employment troubles, an inability to get licenses, college loans, and
assistance. Once someone is part of the system, it can start a downward
trajectory that can impact the remainder of their lives.
The essence of the youth court program is restorative in
nature (as opposed to punitive) and it is a mechanism for a formal teaching
moment in the lives of all involved. The major lesson is about accountability
and responsibility and the idea that actions have consequences. This sounds like
an obvious thing to adults, but not so much for the teenage mind. The process
asks those involved to own their behavior and the impact of their actions.
The “restorative” piece is about making repair, whether
through community service, restitution, formal apologies, or some combination
of these things. This repair or restoration is specific to the harm done, but
it is an essential lesson for a young person- part of paying their debt to
society before any future incurred debts can only be repaid in the form of a
prison sentence.
In Pennsylvania for example, students are trained by
lawyers, law students, law and criminal justice professionals and teachers to
perform all the various court roles and functions. The idea here is that
positive peer pressure likely has far more weight than pressure from adults or
“the system”.
In Newark’s program, before a youth court hearing, the
referred youth or “respondent”, meets with a “Youth Advocate,” who is a young
person representing the respondent throughout the case (think defense lawyer).
During the hearing, the respondent describes what happened and is questioned by
members of the jury. But unlike adult court, the purpose of the jury’s questions
is not just to learn more information, but to better understand what led to the
incident, how the respondent feels about what they’ve done, and to prompt the
respondent to reflect on his or her behavior.
After considering everything, the jury decides on a fair and
appropriate sanction that holds the young person accountable, restores harm
done to the community, and helps the young person to avoid future trouble.
Youth court staff monitors the completion of sanctions and then reports back to
the referral source (i.e. police, municipal court, schools, etc.).
The program shows positive results similar to our Station
House Adjustments organized by local clergy a few years ago. The American Youth
Policy Forum (AYPF) and several partners conducted a nationwide review of youth
court programs several years back and confirmed the benefits of this approach- a
drop in recidivism, less school problems, and drop-out rates and a new culture
of respect for community and justice.
For these reasons, I think youth court, at least a pilot
project in Bridgeton, could be a part of the work currently being done by the
Cumberland County Positive Youth Coalition (CCPYC) and the best place to start.
If it works here, then expand county-wide. It will involve our municipal
courts, police, and schools, but it’s worth the effort.