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TX Teen Court gives students a second chance

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Tuesday, October 29, 2024   

By Marium Zahra for Yes! Media.
Broadcast version by Freda Ross for Texas News Service reporting for the Yes! Media-Public News Service Collaboration


If [students] are being told not only by teachers but by the system and everyone around them that they're 'bad kids,' you're sort of putting them on a path where they have no other choice but [to go] from school to prison," says Judge Michelle Morales, founder of the Teen Court in El Paso, Texas.

A court of teenagers, by teenagers, and for teenagers, Teen Court is exactly what it sounds like: a program giving a new name to justice and serving young people across Texas. The court offers a voluntary alternative from the traditional court system for teens under 17 who commit Class C misdemeanors. Students can avoid a fine and instead receive their penalty in constructive ways such as community service and jury terms in the Teen Court. Once completed, the charge is completely removed from their record.

The program allows young people to plead guilty in front of a student jury that empathizes with their situation and asks them questions about circumstances-their background, home situation, economic status, and what led them to commit the offense. Rather than face a punitive system, teens can avoid unpleasant experiences with law enforcement and move through an alternative criminal justice system that values them.

Student attorney Alex Gonzalez, who is from El Paso, says the program is a way to avoid pigeonholing teens. "The program shifts the focus from labeling students as 'offenders' or 'juveniles' in a negative light to seeing them as people who made a mistake and are now learning from it," she says.

The goal of the court and the student jury is to set teens up for success by making sure the penalty is feasible for each person. In Teen Court, what counts as community service isn't strictly limited to volunteering; it's any self-improvement action, such as going to counseling, achieving a higher grade in a class, or joining an extracurricular class.

Sophia Garza, the juvenile case manager and director of El Paso's Teen Court program explains how community service is defined broadly to accommodate all students. "I have kids that live on the other side, in Mexico, but they attend school in El Paso. ... But as long as they're doing anything that betters themselves or betters their community, I will take it as community service," she says.

Sherry Maximoff, Williamson County attorney and Teen Court supervisor, says the volunteer hours also work as constructive punishment for teens because it encourages them to take care of a community they have served. "If you are taught to give back to your community and to volunteer, it gives you a sense of ownership and responsibility over your community. This is my community, and I'm going to clean up those streets, then why would I commit criminal mischief or litter?" she says.

In recent years, Texas has increased criminalization and policing of teens, especially those of color. The state has intensified the number of law enforcement officers on K-12 campuses with larger populations of Latinx and Black students. This has resulted in Black students in particular being overrepresented in arrests, court referrals, and use-of-force incidents. With students of color across the state saying they fear the increasing number of officers on campuses, Teen Court allows them to avoid traumatizing experiences with law enforcement and have their stories heard without judgment from people within the system.

"[Students are] not dealing with anyone who they identify as law enforcement. That's the whole point of positive peer pressure, that it is their peers who stand in judgment of them, not law enforcement, not the system," explains Morales about how the program is a part of the justice system that veers heavily away from criminalizing students of color.

Garza also says that she notices teens feeling more comfortable once they see other teens on the jury. "When I sit with the youth I can see some are being very cautious. I do see the youth open up more, share a little bit more with their peers, maybe because they feel like if they're going to be judged, their peers are going to understand their situation a little bit better," she explains.

As a state that eschews gun regulation, Texas has also used the overpolicing of schools as a temporary "solution" for gun violence. At a time when students are being criminalized at such a high rate, Teen Court programs allow students from marginalized communities to have their stories heard. This is especially important because students going through the system are often dealing with issues far too serious for their age bracket and sometimes beyond their control.

Williamson County Teen Court volunteer Audrey Seigman talks about a case in which a teen was involved in an accident while driving their siblings to school. "This person was put in a very difficult position. Their parents made them drive their siblings because they were busy with jobs. The accident wasn't their fault, but the police found out they weren't qualified to be driving and cited them," she says.

Other student attorneys say that they've seen similar cases with teens who struggle with issues beyond their control because they come from first-generation families. "[There was] a case involving a student who didn't speak English. He was charged with theft, but it became clear that he didn't fully understand what was happening or how the legal system worked. His family had recently immigrated and there was a huge language barrier," says Gargi Singh, a student attorney with the Williamson Teen Court program.

Gonzalez says that declining mental health is common among teens who enter the program. "Cases involve students dealing with emotional or psychological issues such as depression, anxiety, or trauma. A student might engage in risky behavior as a coping mechanism for their mental health struggles."

In recent years, there has been a resurgence in "tough on crime" approaches to the justice system, including proposed legislation and harsh political commentary from the right. The conservative federal policy agenda Project 2025 seeks to increase criminalization and policing by eliminating training for federal law enforcement. Former President Donald Trump has promised he would increase the militarization of police and expand incarceration and the death penalty if elected. In such a context, Teen Court programs are more important than ever, offering a crucial opportunity for teens to bypass the school-to-prison pipeline. Students are more likely to avoid entering the system later in their lives because Teen Court embodies a form of restorative justice that doesn't use law enforcement or incarceration for discipline.

"At the very lowest level, where the consequences are least impactful, we give them a positive experience with the criminal justice system. You interrupt that pipeline there, both with the way the child begins to define themselves and by actually physically dismissing the ticket," says Morales about how Teen Court directly curbs the school-to-prison pipeline. "We have defendants who have gone through the program and have had such a positive experience at the end that they have chosen to become volunteers," she adds.

Judge Elaine Marshall from Houston, Texas, talks about her Teen Court program and how it has discouraged recidivism among teens in her community. "I started my Teen Court in 2000. From those years I have had no repeat offenders. It says a lot that we've had students who come through as offenders wanting to join the program."

For student volunteers, the program is also a unique way to learn about the legal system and restorative justice. Especially in a state like Texas, which censors students from learning about historical injustices, Teen Court gives students a hands-on opportunity to learn about nuances within the criminal justice system.

"[The program] is not about branding students as 'criminals' but about showing them that they're capable of growth. It has shown me how crucial empathy and understanding are in fostering real change," says Singh.

Teen Court is creating a generation of students who know that reform in the criminal justice system is both necessary and possible. The program bridges gaps between teens and builds community and empathy, giving students the confidence to fight for change.


Marium Zahra wrote this article for Yes! Media.

Disclosure: YES! Media contributes to our fund for reporting on Human Rights/Racial Justice, Native American Issues, Social Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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