To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Deborah Fritzler, Program Coordinator
Title
Introduction: 2017 Teen Court Attorney Graduating Class
Body
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Executive Summary
The Castle Rock Teen Court will be swearing in 6 new youth attorneys on April 18th, 2017. These young volunteers have completed 8 hours of legal training in a variety of areas in order to serve as prosecution and defense attorneys during Teen Court trials.
Training, this year, was facilitated by Nate Marsh, Deputy District Attorney for Colorado Springs, and resident of Castle Rock. Training included re-enforcing an attorney’s ethical responsibilities, the job description for prosecuting and defense attorneys, how to prepare cases prior to trials, interviewing witnesses, developing case theories, opening and closing statements, and how to convince the jury of the necessity of a sentence that encompasses the elements of restorative justice: repair of harm, accountability, competency development and community safety. During this 8 hour training, volunteers were required to prepare for and practice doing a mock trial. These attorneys will begin taking cases and receive continued mentoring from former and current youth attorneys as well as our adult volunteers. Recently, 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler also observed our current attorneys and gave constructive and encouraging feedback in order to continue to develop the skills of our youth attorneys for Teen Court trials and their future endeavors.
The 2017 graduating class includes: Alix Millema, Amber Steyne, Dawson Matney, Trey Wagnon, Harrison Sedmak, and Connor Sparks.
Background
The Teen Court Program began in Castle Rock in mid-2007. It is a community based intervention/ prevention program designed to provide an alternative response for the juvenile justice system for first-time, misdemeanor juvenile offenders, in which community youth volunteers are involved in the resolution of crime. The program holds youthful offenders accountable and provides educational services to offenders and youth volunteers in an effort to promote long-term behavioral change that leads to enhanced public safety. Teen Court is a sentencing tool only. The defendant must admit guilt prior to being accepted into the Teen Court program. If the defendant completes all the sentencing requirements as determined by the Teen Court, then the case is dismissed.
Teen Court has two different models that are used depending on the type of case and circumstances. In the trial model, teens act as prosecuting attorney’s, defense attorneys, judges, bailiffs and jurors. In the peer panel model, a defendant goes directly before a jury panel of their peers who then determine a sentence for the defendant. Adult volunteers play a critical role in serving as mentors to the teens.
One of Teen Court’s goals is to ensure the defendant learns from their mistake and does not re-offend. 87% of the 75 defendants seen during 2015 have been successful and achieved this goal. In 2016, we had 53 Peer Panels and 17 Trials. Our most frequent charges were general theft (34 cases), marijuana (19), alcohol (10), and curfew (10). Sentences rendered by Teen Court include: work crews at Rock Park, participation in future Teen Court hearings, community service hours, essays and interviews on various topics, random drug testing, apology letters to victims and to family members, educational classes, letters to “future self”, art projects, presentations, and many more creative and effective options. In 2016, Teen Court defendants contributed more than 1,300 hours of community service.
Teen Court has 26 active youth volunteers and a very dedicated Colorado Springs District Attorney adult volunteer. We have a very diverse group of teen volunteers that represent the following schools: Douglas County High School, Castle View High School, Rock Canyon High School, Legend High School, DCS Montessori, Ponderosa High School, Regis High School, Palmer Ridge High School, Home School, and Mountain Vista High School. The volunteers donated more than 1,200 hours of volunteer time in 2016.
Proposed Action
None; for information only.