North Star Youth Court

An alternative approach to conflict resolution

In The News

Article Published: Sunday, November 20, 2005 in the Fairbanks Daily News Miner

Positive peer pressure

By MARGARET FRIEDENAUER, Staff Writer

More than 150 legal eaglets gathered in Fairbanks this weekend for the 9th annual State Youth Court Conference.

The volunteers, ages 12-18, came from the 13 youth court programs across the state. Many were veterans to the program, returning to the state conference to meet new people, old friends and to get re-energized.

"Every volunteer that comes to the state conferences goes back to their court so jazzed," said Wendy Leach, executive director of North Star Youth Court in Fairbanks.

Youth courts were developed as a way to address lower-priority juvenile cases. Youth volunteers, like those attending the conference, participate in various roles such as attorney, judge and bailiff while youth offenders are offered an alternative sanction from the formal juvenile justice systems.

The bulk of the conference consisted of workshops focusing on court procedure and legal systems with sessions on creative sentencing, preparing for a disposition hearing, police and prosecution partnership and judicial ethics. Presenters included local legal professionals, representatives from The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in Washington, D.C., and guest speaker recently retired Superior Court Judge Richard Savell.

While the participants look at traditional legal and court systems, there are some uniquely Alaska aspects. Leach said youth courts in Alaska are different from most other states. Many youth court systems just dole out sentences. But Alaska youth courts allow for due process, meaning a juvenile in the Alaska youth court system is allowed to plead not guilty to their charge and request a trial. Leach estimates only about 5 percent of the cases actually result in a trial, but the process allows Alaska youth court volunteers a more realistic judicial experience.

"It's emulating the true nature of the criminal adjudication," Leach said.

The Alaska state conference also has workshops about village and tribal court systems. Volunteers from the Kake youth court program gave a demonstration Saturday of one of their common practices in sentencing, a peace circle.

The teens joined the program for a variety of reasons: Marisha Durdik from Fairbanks said her brother had been a volunteer for years and she was approached to join as soon as she was old enough. The program piqued the interest of Kodiak's Sarah Gray because her father is an attorney. Whatever the reason, Leach said there is usually a common thread in how and why the youth become involved.

"The main motivating factor for most of the kids is to be involved in their communities," she said.

The teens that join often remain in the program for several years. Several of the volunteers cited their reason for sticking with it is that they see visible results in the work they do. Several of the teens from Kodiak said they are able to see long-lasting effects of youth court on the juvenile offenders because they are often kids they know and go to school with. Once the offenders receive a sentence and complete it, they still feel positive peer pressure from their classmates to maintain good behavior.

"While youth court doesn't get a lot of recognition in the community, it can have a big impact," said Erin Kelahan, five-year volunteer from the Mat-Su program.

Staff writer Margaret Friedenauer can be reached at 459-7545 or mfriedenauer@newsminer.com .

 

 

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800 Cushman St., Suite 101

P.O. Box 82147

Fairbanks, AK 99708

Phone: (907) 457-6792

Fax: (907) 457-6791

E-mail: Wendy Leach or Marita Bunch

 

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On KUAC (89.9), between 6:00-6:30 - Tuesday, October 10th, 2006

A radio interview with Marita, Wendy, Fred Brown, and Ruth Kaplan from North Star Youth Court.

 

FAIRBANKS, AK Ten years ago the Fairbanks North Star Borough Youth Court was just a vision, inspired by successful youth courts across the state and country. Last month was National Youth Court Month, and As KUAC's Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock reports, that initial Fairbanks youth court vision has grown into a successful and vital community program over the years:

© Copyright 2006, KUAC

 

 

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