« Ind. Courts - "Tippecanoe courts 'out of space' for juvenile cases" | Main | Ind. Courts - "4 vie for Lake county District 3 judgeship" »
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Ind. Courts - Vanderburgh "teen court" program
John Martin of the Evansville Courier & Press reports:
In more than 30 cases last year, the fate of offenders in Vanderburgh Juvenile Court cases were decided not by Judge Brett J. Niemeier, but by a jury of teenagers.Youth Resources of Southwestern Indiana put its Teen Court program on public display Tuesday night in the Courts Building, with an abbreviated version of a recent real case decided by a teen jury.
A teen prosecutor and defense attorney jousted during the mock trial over the fate of a student who admitted to pilfering alcoholic beverages from a neighbor's garage.
The offender "violated the personal space of another human being," argued prosecutor Christie Kelley of Mater Dei High School.
Countered defense attorney Jordan Whitledge of North High School, "Ever since Eve ate that fateful apple, none of us has been perfect ... she understands what she did was wrong."
The jury decided to require community service of the defendant, as well as a written letter of apology to the victim.
Niemeier told the audience at the mock trial that only issues of punishment are decided in Teen Court, not guilt or innocence.
Among the offenders who went through the program last year, only 6 percent committed a subsequent offense, which Niemeier said speaks to the value of peer mediation.
He said the experience is valuable for the young volunteers, and if some of them eventually do go to law school and become attorneys, "there couldn't be a better legacy for this program."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 15, 2008 09:27 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts