Fri Jul 30 2010
The prosecutor was ready to throw the book at the defendant, calling her a thief and demanding that she repay her debt to society with 45 hours of community service.
The pugnacious attorney in this case wasn’t Commonwealth’s Attorney Larry Cleveland. It was 14-year-old Logan Patterson, a Western Hills freshman and one of 29 high school students participating in Franklin County Teen Court.
Patterson and others – including the defendant, 15-year-old Katie Jackson, also a Western Hills freshman – made up the alternative juvenile justice system sworn in by Franklin County district judges Kathy Mangeot and Chris Olds at the courthouse Monday.
The students gave the audience – primarily parents and siblings – a glimpse of the program with a mock trial before they were sworn in.
It’s designed to give first-time offenders of non-violent crimes between 10 and 17 a chance to learn from their mistakes and make amends, local law officials involved with the program say.
“It’s an alternative sentencing program,” County Attorney Rick Sparks told The State Journal after the swearing-in.
“They take juveniles in certain categories – first-time offenders, misdemeanors, non-violent offenses – and in lieu of adult justice, we ask them to stand in front of their peers and answer hard questions about why they did what they did.
“We try to get the young men and young women to apply their positive experiences to help the defendant make positive decisions in the future.”
First-time offenders aged 10 to 17 who plead guilty or are convicted of non-violent misdemeanors like shoplifting, theft, criminal mischief and harassment can choose Teen Court over traditional sentencing by the judge.
Once in Teen Court, the participating students are broken up into lawyers, clerks, bailiffs and jurors and they hold a trial in front of a district judge. The offender pleads his or her case, and the jury decides on an appropriate punishment.
Punishments typically include community service, a letter of apology, counseling session or serving on a Teen Court jury.
Court proceedings are kept confidential, and charges can be removed from the offenders’ record once the sentence is completed.
The hope for the program lies in positive peer pressure, officials say. Sparks said standing trial and being sentenced by a jury of peers is more effective for juveniles than typical court punishment.
Mangeot and Olds say the program has helped gently push most juvenile offenders back on a law-abiding path.
“If it didn’t work, and we didn’t see success, I don’t think we’d continue with the program,” Mangeot said.
While the program is dedicated to giving second chances, those getting their first opportunity in the courtroom received plenty of praise from officials involved in the program.
“The Teen Court participants are all very smart and talented, and I’m impressed by that,” Olds said. “But I’m even more impressed by their willingness to use their talents to do good things in public service.”
Teen Court may spark a career interest in law as well. Local attorney Kyle Thompson participated in the inaugural Franklin County Teen Court program when he was a sophomore at Franklin County High School in 1992.
“I would guess that even though I may have gone to law school, the fact that I wanted to come back to Franklin County and wanted to give back to the community is the result of my experience in Teen Court,” Thompson said.
“I’d always wanted to be a lawyer, which is why Teen Court was so appealing to me. To participate in a peer-driven justice system really pushed me, and it was my first experience with the law.”
Current bankruptcy attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice in Lexington Rachelle Williams, a Frankfort native, also participated in the first Franklin County Teen Court program, Thompson said.
Mangeot says the group will hear about 10 cases before schools close for summer.
Franklin County is one of only 32 counties in the state participating in the Teen Court program. It was one of the first to adopt the program from the start in 1992.
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