Teen Court is a peer-to-peer first offender division court that repairs the harm done to the victims, family, school, and community through re­storative justice. This court is run by teen volunteers who are trained through a local judicial system and the Seattle Univer­sity Law School.

Danetta Rutten, Teen Court Advisor, says, "Teen Court was started because it was a positive youth experi­ence and we felt we could train leaders in the community and provide youth with solid under­standing of the juvenile justice system. At the time, it was an­other way for youth to be able to do volunteer service for their community."

Since Teen Court is a vol­unteer service, it counts as community service. If you’re a freshman (or a sophomore or junior) and you want to get your community service done before you’re a senior, it's as easy as joining Teen Court. It's free to join, and there is no fee for a shirt, which is required (to look more professional). The only requirement is that you fill out an application and have a background check.

I decided to join Teen Court in 7th grade. I had heard about it from a friend and I thought it would be a good experience. I also knew that it counted as com­munity service (which I needed for high school) and it would look good on col­lege applications.

There are two teams in Teen Court (A and B). Team A has a case every first and third Wednesday of every month. While Team B has a case every second and fourth Wednesday of the month, the only time we don't attend Teen Court is during the summer and during the holidays. Although we don't spend any time at Juvy during the summer, we spend a lot of time fundraising by washing cars, and any fund­raiser that will make money to help when it comes time to take our Senior Trip.

These trips are law related education trips that make us aware of other laws in the Unit­ed States. Two years ago our team went to the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. (the highest court in the Unit­ed States). Last year, the seniors went to New Orleans to learn about Napoleonic Law with Jus­tice Bernice Johnson. This year they will go to San Diego, Cali­fornia to study about Judge Ad­vocate General, (JAG, military law). The first trip we took, ev­eryone in Teen Court went, but now it is more cost-effective to just take the se­niors of the Teen Court year.

Students get involved in Teen Court for various reasons -- for example, Kimberly Burns, Teen Court Advisor, says, "I love the concept of Restorative Jus­tice and that the youth who got into trouble has to accept ac­countability and is given conse­quences by his own peer group. It's a very powerful thing for your peer group to say, 'This is not okay and this is what you need to do to make it right.' It definitely has much more of an impact."

Bailey Beckett (10) joined Teen Court because, "I felt it would be good for me and some of my friends were already in it." After joining, Beckett re­alized that she start­ed seeing things from a different perspective, "I never re­ally made anything of it before" Bailey stated, "and now I think they could have made better decisions."

Courtney Chittick (11) has also changed perspectives, "You definitely get to see both sides of the story, and you get to see things from the kid’s perspec­tive. Instead of assuming things and hearing rumors, you get to actually talk to them."

When you walk into a Teen Court session, you will see very few adults. Most of the time, there are two advisors, and the parent(s) of the teen who com­mitted the crime. Teen Court is run by teens, and to some students, that's what they like most about it. Devin Wyant (11) feels that exact same way, "I really like being in the court­room knowing that it is com­pletely run by teens, from the judge all the way to the jury."

There are multiple roles in the courtroom; bailiff, clerk, prosecutor, defense, and the jury. Though most students would think being part of the jury is the easiest role, not ev­eryone would agree. Chittick explains why being part of the jury would be one of the most difficult roles,

"...jury is the hardest because they are the people who are actually deciding what the sen­tence will be. They have to take a lot of things into consideration, and they have to come up with reasonable sen­tences that will actually help the kid."

Though there are difficult roles in Teen Court, there are "easy" roles too. Wyant sees the judge as being the easiest, "It would be the judge because it's basically reading aloud. You're reading to an audience from a script." We'll let you be the judge of the "easiest" role. For more information on Teen Court you can contact Danet­ta Rutten at 360.565.2630 or e-mail her at drutten@co.clallam.wa.us.