GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. – On Friday, May 13, 2011, at 9:00 a.m., the final Kent County Teen Court Pilot Program hearing day will commence in Room 403 of 111 Commerce Ave. SW. When Teen Court returns this fall, it will return as a full-fledged program of the Dispute Resolution Center of West Michigan.
Teen Court began in the fall of 2009 as a partnership between Thomas M. Cooley Law School’s Grand Rapids campus and The Carter-Alexander Institute for Law and Justice and with the cooperation of the 17th circuit court and the Kent County Prosecutor’s office. It began as a small pilot program seeking to divert first-time and minor-offense juvenile offenders from the 17th Circuit Family Court.
The Pilot Program has been a great success. Over the two years it has existed, it has served around 75 juvenile offenders. Rather than being focused on crime and punishment, Teen Court is based on the idea that when a crime is committed, relationships and the community are damaged. The goal of the Teen Court process is that these young offenders will recognize what they have done is wrong and be challenged to think before they act in the future. They are also given the opportunity to bring restoration to the relationships that were damaged by completing community service, writing apology letters, and paying restitution. The program has also brought around 500 students from local high schools like Creston High School, East Kentwood High School, East Grand Rapids High School, Potter's House School, and Union High School, through the program to serve as jurors. Jurors are taught about principles of punishment and restorative justice. They are challenged to see what part they can play in seeing justice and restored relationships come to pass. And they are exposed to the legal system and the consequences for negative choices that lead to breaking the law.
The Carter-Alexander Institute is thrilled to pass on this successful program to the Dispute Resolution Center of West Michigan. The Institute exists to research, educate, and then put into practice ideas and pilot programs like Teen Court that encourage justice within our communities. Teen Court was the first pilot program for the Institute, and the Institute is glad to call it a success. Stay tuned for future research, educational, and pilot programs coming from this one-employee nonprofit.
More Information About The Carter-Alexander Institute for Law and Justice
The Carter-Alexander Institute for Law and Justice was formed in 2007 by local Cooley Law summa cum laude graduate Anna R. Rapa. Before law school, Anna spent several work serving at-risk youth and their families in the Belknap neighborhood. Her experiences on the ground and in her travels through the third world led her to believe that the issues of injustice are bigger than just one child or one family or one community. Whole structures of our community, government, and culture create barriers to peoples’ access to, and experience of justice.
In law school, Anna discovered that she is not the only person interested in the cause of justice--the coming generations are also impassioned to see the world changed. But in many cases, these students do not have the tools or the life experience to find solutions to injustices. And as she explored issues of justice from a legal perspective, she realized that justice must be sought by whole generations of people over a broad range of disciplines, or it will not work.
And so The Carter-Alexander Institute was born. The Institute exists “to invite, influence, and inspire coming generations to join us in seeking justice for the oppressed, the marginalized, and the forgotten through practical, interdisciplinary solutions.” This mission is accomplished through interdisciplinary research and writing, community education, and innovative pilot programs.
Showing posts with label Teen Court. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teen Court. Show all posts
Inaugural Teen Court A Success!
An article highlighting the benefits of Teen Court was recently published in the Grand Rapids Legal News.
Click here to read the article.
http://www.legalnews.com/GrandRapids/default.aspx
Announcing the Kent County Teen Court Pilot Project!
On October 23, 2009 at 9:00 a.m., the first hearing of a Grand Rapids Teen Court will be held at the Law Center at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School's Grand Rapids campus. Teen Court is a pilot project of the non-profit Carter-Alexander Institute, which is working in conjunction with Cooley Law School on the project.Teen Court is a diversion program for first time youthful misdemeanor offenders between the ages of 11 and 16.
Through an agreement with the Kent County Prosecutor's Office, families of youthful offenders can opt to avoid the traditional criminal justice system by agreeing to participate in Teen Court. The participants must agree to remain in school, attend street law workshops, complete community service, apologize to any victims, and attend a hearing at which a jury of their peers (local high school students) will deliver a disposition that often includes additional community service, restitution, and other forms of restorative justice.The project has received support from local bench, prosecutor's office, and probation department in Kent County, and local leaders have welcomed the effort to reduce juvenile recidivism.
Cooley faculty will serve as volunteer judges along with local attorneys and judges. Cooley students will serve as Respondents' and victims' advocates, hearing observers, and as jury monitors during jury deliberations. They will also help the Respondents complete their required orders for the Teen Court diversion from prosecution. Many of them may also serve as academic mentors for the students and establish relationships with the teenagers that continue beyond Teen Court.
Anna Rapa, the director of the Carter-Alexander Institute, and an adjunct professor at Cooley, is leading the pilot project with the assistance of Assistant Dean Tracey Brame, Adjunct Professor Mike Dunn, and students Audrey Codera and Ebony Holden. They have worked closely with the Teen Court program in Lansing, MI, which has operated for years in conjunction with the Ingham County Prosecutor's Office. Student Ebony Holden is working with Lansing Teen Court to develop a Street Law Curriculum and is also recruiting and training Cooley law students to teach it. The program participants must attend a certain number of street law sessions. Student Audrey Codera has a non-profit management background and is helping with marketing materials and standard operating procedures. In the Grand Rapids project, Cooley Law School students will teach the Street Law instruction.
Cooley has been instrumental in implementing the program, and in providing office space, student support, and numerous other in-kind donations. Hearings will be held once every month through the spring. The pilot project participants hope to have a successful year and obtain funding for a long-term project.
You can read the original announcement here.
Through an agreement with the Kent County Prosecutor's Office, families of youthful offenders can opt to avoid the traditional criminal justice system by agreeing to participate in Teen Court. The participants must agree to remain in school, attend street law workshops, complete community service, apologize to any victims, and attend a hearing at which a jury of their peers (local high school students) will deliver a disposition that often includes additional community service, restitution, and other forms of restorative justice.The project has received support from local bench, prosecutor's office, and probation department in Kent County, and local leaders have welcomed the effort to reduce juvenile recidivism.
Cooley faculty will serve as volunteer judges along with local attorneys and judges. Cooley students will serve as Respondents' and victims' advocates, hearing observers, and as jury monitors during jury deliberations. They will also help the Respondents complete their required orders for the Teen Court diversion from prosecution. Many of them may also serve as academic mentors for the students and establish relationships with the teenagers that continue beyond Teen Court.
Anna Rapa, the director of the Carter-Alexander Institute, and an adjunct professor at Cooley, is leading the pilot project with the assistance of Assistant Dean Tracey Brame, Adjunct Professor Mike Dunn, and students Audrey Codera and Ebony Holden. They have worked closely with the Teen Court program in Lansing, MI, which has operated for years in conjunction with the Ingham County Prosecutor's Office. Student Ebony Holden is working with Lansing Teen Court to develop a Street Law Curriculum and is also recruiting and training Cooley law students to teach it. The program participants must attend a certain number of street law sessions. Student Audrey Codera has a non-profit management background and is helping with marketing materials and standard operating procedures. In the Grand Rapids project, Cooley Law School students will teach the Street Law instruction.
Cooley has been instrumental in implementing the program, and in providing office space, student support, and numerous other in-kind donations. Hearings will be held once every month through the spring. The pilot project participants hope to have a successful year and obtain funding for a long-term project.
You can read the original announcement here.
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