Teen Defendants Are Judged By Teen Juries In Oregon

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - Last May 30 will always stick out in his memory.

Jason, who asked that his real name not be used, was hanging out that night with friends at a carnival at the Klamath County Fairgrounds.

Sometime during the night, Jason put on his friend's jacket and discovered a six-inch, double-edged dagger in a pocket, but he decided not to say anything.

A little while later Jason, 17, and his friends were being questioned by the police, who cited him for having a concealed weapon.

When Jason got his day in court, it was not the regular juvenile court he expected. Instead, he faced a jury of his peers.

The jury handed down a punishment of a midnight curfew, 24 hours of community service, regular school attendance, two essays and to serve three terms on the peer court's jury.

After his sentence was read, volunteer judge Dave Schutt gave Jason some advice.

"I normally work with the district attorney's office. And if there is one thing we have, it is an excellent memory," Schutt said. "Once your name is familiar to the police and to us that's it. From there it is only going to get worse.

"People who go out looking for trouble find it."

First-time offenders

The Klamath County Youth Peer Court was one of the items to be established under a special first-time offender program.

Cindy Laws, a counselor with the Klamath County Juvenile Department, is in charge of the local program.

To participate, defendants must be between 12 and 17 years old and have a parent or guardian present during the hearing. The defendants also have to admit they are guilty of the crime.

The local court has three volunteer judges: Judge Richard Rambo, Schutt and Dan Golden, the supervisor of the county's Juvenile Detention Center.

The jury is made up of teens who volunteer to serve as a juror for a year. They hear cases once a month. Members of the current jury are Emily West, Randi Walker, Tim Jakubowski, Lynette Laws, Aaron Hottinger, Summer Ponce, Kelly Heard and Ben Johnson. Only five at a time typically are used.

Cindy Laws said this year the peer court will also try to recruit students from Ponderosa and Brixner junior high schools in the fall to set up a second court for those students. Currently the court only hears cases concerning students from Mazama and Klamath Union high schools. Plans call for expansion of the program to Henley Middle and Henley High in 1999.

"The purpose of the first-offense program is to reduce juvenile crime," she said. "The greatest amount of juvenile crime in this area is represented throughout the city high schools.

"Various counties have been doing a youth court and they are seeing it is useful for various reasons. One reason is the youth are being held accountable for their first offense."

Appearing before youth court is optional. The other option is to meet with a counselor at the Juvenile Department and receive consequences there.

Laws said the benefit of appearing before peer court is the first offense will not go on a juvenile's permanent record.

Some of the offenses that appear before the court are curfew violations, shoplifting and being in possession of tobacco.

Laws said a defendant cannot be cited or charged with more than a class-A misdemeanor or a violation in order to appear in the peer court. A minor in possession of alcohol or less than an ounce of marijuana will still go to the juvenile court.

Defendants who choose to go to peer court receive a contract that has to be completed within the next six months. If it isn't, the juvenile is referred back to Juvenile Department and can receive additional consequences or go to court.

Altruism at work

Emily West got involved in peer court because she wanted to help out other teenagers.

"Most teens that commit a crime are doing it to show off to their friends," she said. "Hopefully, by having other teenagers sentencing them they will get the message that this isn't cool and we disapprove of what they are doing."

Kelly Heard said when a jury made up of their peers sentences them, rather than a judge, the punishment has more of an impact.

"Being on the jury is harder than it looks," she said. "Our decision can change someone else's life. This also proves the legal system is not out to get people.

"We are giving people a second chance to improve their lives."