Teen Court: A National Movement
Training
The educational role of teen courts is enriched by the orientation and training offered
to young participants. Most teen courts have developed training manuals that include
information such as:
- Volunteer job descriptions
- A brief description of the sequence of events during a teen court hearing
- A script that outlines the courtroom protocol to be followed
- Definitions and explanation of the types of offenses being targeted for the program
- Sample questions attorneys and jurors may or may not ask defendants
- Sample sentencing options
- Sample forms used by the program
- A glossary of criminal justice terms.
(Godwin 1996)
Some teen courts have an extensive training program for student volunteers who want to
participate as officers of the court (attorney, judge, bailiff, and clerk) or as foreman
of the jury. One example of such a program is the Anchorage Youth Court in Alaska, a
Tribunal Model teen court in which a panel of three teen-age judges decides guilt or
innocence and determines the sentence. The volunteer judges, attorneys, and bailiffs must
complete an eight-week (16-hour) training course covering youth court jurisdiction,
procedure, evidence, advocacy, and case preparation. After completing the course, students
must pass a bar exam and complete four hours of sentencing training before becoming
officers of the courts. They must also attend monthly meetings that include 30-minute
continuing legal education classes. Yearly training for trial judges and appeals judges is
also required.
Placer Country Peer Court in Newcastle, California, (Adult Judge Model) has a four-hour
training for officers of the court, taught by experienced peer court teen-age volunteers,
who also serve as members of the court's advisory board. Since the main goal of peer court
is to educate young offenders so that they will not get into trouble again, training
emphasizes the importance of sentences that educate about the harm of the offense, rather
than sentences that merely punish. A weeklong juvenile justice unit provided in local
ninth grade health classes enhances the training. The curriculum uses the Juvenile
Justice Handbook, addressing various aspects of juvenile law and includes
presentations by representatives from the police, probation department, and peer court.
Salt Lake City, Utah, uses a Peer Jury Model, in which seven peer court students
question an offender and his or her parents and determine a sentence. The peer court
training begins with a two-day overnight session for 50–60 students from four of the
city's high schools. The intensity of the training is considered essential to ensure that
the student volunteers from various neighborhoods and socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds
will be able to work together compatibly. The main topics addressed in the training are
court procedures, communications skills, the role of mentoring, restorative justice (e.g.,
competency development, public safety, accountability, and strengthening ties to the
community), and juvenile law. The student volunteers receive an additional four-hour
training session in peer mediation. Student volunteers receive 0.5 elective pass/fail
credit for their participation. (Click here for
additional information about Salt Lake City's Peer Court.)
Some teen courts train volunteer jurors as well as officers of the court. One example
is the Honolulu District Teen Court in Hawaii (Adult Judge Model). A training session is
held before each weekly court session. Jurors, offenders, and their parents learn what
court procedures are followed, how to assess the demeanor of those who testify, and what
discussion topics are appropriate during deliberation. All offenders must serve one to
four evenings of jury duty, and they constitute at least half of each jury. Up to twelve
cases are heard each evening, and the court sessions are organized so that all jurors who
are not hearing or deliberating a case observe the other cases being held. Learning by
observing is considered a key part of training for both jurors and court officers.
Some teen courts, both community-and school-based, rely upon students enrolled in high
school law classes to fill the positions of officers of the court. Law classes linked to
student courts tend to be a semester in length and provide 0.5 credit. The curriculum may
cover a general introduction to the judicial system, specific statutes/rules handled by
the student court, and court procedures and skills. When classes are linked to a
school-based court, the latter part of the semester may involve hearing cases interspersed
with additional educational topics and mock trials. (See Table 2.)