Teen Court gives second chance to first-time offenders
BY BOBBI HAYCOX Gulf Breeze News news@gulfbreezenews.com

For young people, facing the legal consequences of making a poor choice, Teen Court offers relief. In Santa Rosa County, Teen Court is a program administered by Lutheran Services Florida under the direction of Jessica Milstid, who serves as the coordinator. It is financially supported by a grant from the Department of Juvenile Justice.

“We offer a non-judicial alternative to regular judicial court,” she explained. “If the juvenile is a first-time misdemeanor offender who has never been in trouble before, he/she is given the opportunity to keep their criminal record clean by successfully completing our program and having their criminal record expunged. That enables them to honestly state on any application that they have never been arrested or experienced any adjudication of a criminal misdemeanor.”

Presently all county Teen Court activities are conducted in Milton, but if the needed volunteers can be recruited, Teen Court will soon function in south Santa Rosa for those in the program from our area.

“Local teen volunteers, ages 12 18, are needed to serve as prosecutor and defense attorneys,” Milstid said. She is looking for well-rounded young people, involved in school clubs and seeking community service hours, perhaps to fulfill college scholarship requirements, to participate in the court sessions held locally. “It could be teens interested in public speaking or learning more about the law; someone who might be thinking about choosing a law career in the future.”

Volunteering for the program involves a three-hour training session conducted by Milstid at the Navarre Library on a scheduled Thursday from 4 p.m.-7 p.m. Volunteers are expected to participate in the Teen Court sessions, held one night a week for the entire school year.

Local attorneys are needed as well. They serve as judges, volunteering their time to ensure courtroom protocol is observed. In Milton, Assistant State Attorney Castina Wilson often presides over a courtroom session as do private attorneys Laura Nye, Ken Brooks and Rick Bailey, a Military legal assistant.

Because the 10-17 year-old juvenile offender has admitted guilt and chosen Teen Court rather than Juvenile Court for sentencing, their case is processed quickly and efficiently, with no need for witnesses to be called, except the defendant. Four to eight cases maybe scheduled in a single session. A different jury is used for each case, so that while one is deliberating, another case can be heard.

The offender is sentenced by a jury of his peers, who themselves are fellow first-time offenders. Their cases have already been before the Court, which has required them to serve on a specific number of juries as one stipulation of their sentence. The punishment decision made by the jury must be unanimous, and every member of the jury must sign a document to that effect, once a decision has been reached.

Other sanctions imposed by juries of Teen Court may be community service hours (2050 hours for one charge; 50-100 hours, for two), curfew, letters of apology, essays related to the offense, counseling or possibly random urinalysis, if charged with possession of a controlled substance. The defendant may be required to complete a unit of study on a specific crime or offense, furnished by Teen Court, that involves reading, writing and related activities such as interviews.

“Sometimes the juries get creative and relate the punishment to the crime,” Milstid said. “A girl guilty of stealing cosmetics might be prohibited to use make-up for a set amount of time. Someone who stole DVD’s could be told they can’t play any DVD’s until their sentence is completed.”

Santa Rosa Teen Court has some mandatory sentence stipulations that are added to the jury’s requirements for each defendant. For example, after being sentenced by the jury, the defendant must deliver a verbal apology to his parents in open court.

“This cannot be just an ‘I’m sorry,’ kind of apology, Milstid said. “It has to include why they are sorry for their actions.” She says that if the apology is not good enough, parents are free to reject it and the defendant is required to offer more elaboration related to his regret.

Mandatory school attendance is also enforced. There can be no tardiness, no unexcused absences, no disciplinary referrals, no expulsions and no school suspensions.

The use of alcohol or drugs is prohibited, unless prescribed by a physician.

Before leaving the courtroom, the defendants and their parents go over the punishment contract, step by step so that there is no misunderstanding concerning the sanctions. Each defendant receives a folder, tailored to his sentence, with everything in writing. The defendant is required to complete the sentence in 4-12 weeks, depending on the severity of the stipulations. There are deadlines for the various sanctions as well.

“Kids that do not complete the program are sent back to Judge Marci Goodman in Juvenile Court,” Milstid explained. “I initiate the process by sending a Violation Memo to the State Attorney Office and the Probation Office of the Department of Juvenile Justice.” They set up an arraignment date in Juvenile Court and the case is turned over to it.”

The numbers reflect the success of the Teen Court Program. Less than 10% of the defendants who choose the program fail to complete it. A number of prior defendants become involved as volunteers upon completion of their sanctions and become a positive peer influence in their community.

“We have a 92% success rate,” Milstid said. “As long as the kids are doing well and not getting into trouble again, I feel that I’ve done my job.

For more information or to volunteer, call Teen Court Coordinator Jessica Milstid at 626-4620.