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Contents
Introduction
Teen Courts in the United States
The Teen Court Process
What Makes Teen Court Effective?
Design of the ETC Project
The Teen Court Programs
Outcome Comparisons
Data Collection
Results
Interpretation of Results
Conclusion
References
Appendices
Introduction
Teen courts (or youth courts) are specialized diversion programs for young offenders. The typical youth referred to teen court is 14 to 16 years old, in trouble with the police for the first time, and probably charged with vandalism, stealing, or some other non-violent offense. Teen courts offer these youth an alternative to the regular juvenile court process. Rather than going to juvenile court and risking formal prosecution and possible adjudication, a young offender can go through teen court and avoid what might have been the first stain on his or her legal record.
In return, however, a young person in teen court is almost certain to get a rather stiff sentence. Many are required to do community service and pay restitution for any damages they may have caused. They may be ordered to write apology letters to their parent(s) and the victim of their offense, and perhaps an essay about the effects of crime on the community. Often, they must return to teen court to serve on juries for other cases. Compared to what they might have received in the regular juvenile court process for a first-time, non-violent offense, youth that agree to go to teen court get relatively severe sanctions.
Teen courts operate much like juvenile courts except that fewer adults are involved in the process. The young offender (usually with a parent or guardian) may meet with an adult staff person before the teen court hearing. The purpose of the meeting is to explain the teen court process and obtain the youth's formal agreement to abide by the teen court's decision. In the teen court hearing itself, however, young people are responsible for much of the process, from calling the case, to reviewing the charges and presenting the facts, to choosing the proper sentence. Teenagers may serve as the court clerks, bailiffs, attorneys, jurors, and in some cases, even the judges that hear each matter brought before the court. Most of the youth who work in teen court are volunteers, but many are former defendants who return to participate in other cases as a condition of their sentence.
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