Youth Court Teaches More Than Law Students Get Inspiration Along With Punishment From Jury Of Their Peers

The jury - six Fairmont Junior High ninth-graders - kept their eyes glued on Edith Walsh as she confessed her crime:

“It was a school day - we were looking for a place to smoke, but we didn’t find it.”

The 15-year-old Meridian High School student was caught red-handed and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor tobacco charge. She chose to let a jury of her peers decide her sentence.

Walsh is one of about 880 teenage defendants who have chosen Youth Court over traditional alternatives since 1990.

Traditional sentences of community service, addiction classes, fines and jail time weren’t having much effect on underage kids convicted of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and paraphernalia charges.

So magistrate Judge Charles Hay and his wife, Bobbi, set up Youth Court in Ada County.

“The idea was that having them sentenced by their own peers might have an impact,” Hay said. “As it turned out, it’s exposed thousands of other kids in the area to how the law works.”

Teenagers take on roles as jurors, defense attorneys, prosecutors, bailiffs and clerks. Adult attorneys mentor the teen lawyers and an adult judge presides over Youth Court.

“We’re toying with the idea of next year having student judges,” Hay said.

In 1995, 192 Youth Courts were active across the United States. Idaho currently boasts of four in Boise, Orofino, Pocatello and Twin Falls.

Measuring the program’s success is difficult because juvenile records are sealed and no system is in place to track juvenile recidivism. But Hay is encouraged by youth participation in the project.

Ada County’s program has already inspired more than a few Youth Court participants to consider careers in law.

Like April Robinson.

As a Youth Court defense attorney, 14-year-old Robinson handled sentencing for two girls who were caught with tobacco.

In Walsh’s case, she asked jurors to be fair to her client.

“We’d like the jury to consider that Edith is sorry for smoking and she has quit smoking,” Robinson said during closing arguments. “She’s already been punished by her dad as well.”

Now, Robinson says she’s thinking about becoming an attorney - a defense attorney.

“They get to talk to the person directly, so they have more information to work with,” said Robinson, a Fairmont ninth-grader.

Boise attorney Rick Dredge acted as Robinson’s Youth Court mentor and assisted in Walsh’s defense.

“It’s really fun to work with kids who want to be lawyers,” Dredge said. “I always work with the student attorneys on the ethical responsibility people have to work with their clients. The student lawyers clearly have more empathy for the student defendants.”

Walsh said she was satisfied with her defense team, even though she’s not too happy about her sentence: two essays and an eight-hour tobacco abuse course.

“It’s punishment. I’m not excited about writing 300 words and sharing it with a group and then writing another 300 words,” said Walsh, who began smoking at 13. “I have quit - I started that week I was caught. It’s really hard.”