In Praise of the Teen Court

Process

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Highlights

id546024701

when minors are arrested on first offenses (misdemeanors and low-level felonies), usually vandalism, shoplifting, drug possession, fighting, etc., they are given the option to avoid the ordinary juvenile court system and instead go through the teen court process.

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id544355365

it gets kids out of the awful ordinary juvenile punishment system, and does not use detention as a remedy. It’s a diversionary program that will wipe their record clean if they complete it. It doesn’t administer harsh punishments.

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id544354786

The sentences kids are given are real, but they’re the kind of thing an anti-carceral type should consider the correct response to harm and wrongdoing. Community service hours are precisely what people should have to do. But the jury duties are also a great idea. They mean that teenagers who enter the process aren’t just being judged by a jury of “goody two shoes” types. They’re making their case to a group of people who have committed offenses themselves.

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It’s a jury of actual peers and its sentences are reasonable but not negligible.

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how literally “empowering” they are for young people. They allow teenagers to be attorneys, jurors, and even judges in real cases. I think this sends a powerful message.

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I’ve spent more time thinking about how we can devise practical alternatives to cruel and dysfunctional systems. Teen Court seems to me to be a humble example of something that is “quietly radical.” It deals with antisocial behavior without harsh punishment and in a way that sends offenders the message that society believes in their capacity for civic engagement.

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