Published on Friday, March 17, 2006
in the Lake City Reporter

Teen Court goes to school

Lake City Mayor Stephen Witt declared this week to be Juvenile Justice Week in Lake City and students from Columbia High School took part in Teen Court Thursday morning.

Witt issued a proclamation at the Columbia County Courthouse Thursday morning. The announcement was followed by a special session of Teen Court, with students from Roger Lizotte's Criminal Justice Operations class at Columbia High School. Freshman and sophomores from his first class took part in the jury, while the case was prosecuted and defended by juniors and seniors from CHS.

“Teen Court is beneficial to juvenile justice,” said Tom Witt, supervisor of Department of Juvenile Justice.

He said Teen Court handles a lot of cases that deserve consequences and frees up the courts for the more serious offenses.

Teen Court started in Columbia County in 1998. Kurt Jenkins has been the director of Teen Court since 1999. Teen Court allows middle and high school aged students to volunteer their time in court to serve as the prosecution, defense and jury.

For a case to be processed in Teen Court, a teenager who has been arrested for a crime must plead guilty to the crime. The State Attorney's Office and Juvenile Justice make the decision if the case will go to regular court or Teen Court, depending on the severity of the crime.

“This is for people who admit their guilt and would rather be sentenced by their peers rather than having an actual criminal record,” said Lt. Mike Burroughs of the Florida Highway Patrol who presided over Teen Court Thursday. “They are able to decide what to do - they could go to actual court and face a criminal record or go here and it won't go against their record because it's remanded down to Teen Court.”

Jenkins said the students do not find the defendant guilty or innocent. However, students must defend or prosecute the defendant and make an appeal to the jury for what they believe the defendant should receive.

Burroughs said the student attorneys meet with their defendant before the case, where they find out about the case and have council with them.

Defendants can receive community service hours, sentencing to substance abuse programs and Teen Court jury duty. If they miss any school during the time they are serving their community service, they can be remanded back to the normal court proceedings.

“I think it's very effective and gives a person the opportunity to straighten up and do things right in their life,” Burroughs said.

“What I like about this system is that it teaches students to be actively involved in the judicial system and Mr. Lizotte and Mr. Jenkins teach the students to have respect for the judicial system.”

Lizotte's classes came to court on Thursday not knowing any information about the cases until they arrived.

Both cases were prosecuted by his juniors and seniors, while the freshman and sophomores took part in the jury and decided the sentencing for two cases.

“It's a lot of fun for the students,” Lizotte said. “It's an awesome responsibility for them and is a great way of developing knowledge for the students.”

Teen Court takes place year round and is scheduled on Tuesdays after school.