Summit County Teen Court provides adolescents with learning experience

As most people are aware, when a case goes to court, it is heard in front of a judge, a prosecutor, a defense attorney and sometimes a jury of adults. But most people probably aren’t aware that some courts, such as Summit County, offer a Teen Court in which high schoolers have the opportunity to get involved in the judicial process.

Teen Court is responsible for the dispositional hearing (sentencing phase) for a juvenile who has previously been found guilty of delinquency through a trial.

According to Summit County’s website, summitoh.net, the Teen Court, which began in 2004, is a diversionary program to provide youth with exposure to the juvenile justice system. The volunteers assume the roles of prosecutor, defense attorney, bailiff and jurors.

“I believe this program will serve as an outstanding diversionary option for youthful offenders while also providing young men and women in our community with a great opportunity to experience the juvenile justice process,” said Summit County Judge Linda Tucci Teodosio in a statement on Summit County’s website.

Judge Teodosio also said that Teen Court is a great introduction for students interested in the juvenile justice system.

Students who wish to participate in Teen Court are required to participate in mandatory training sessions. These sessions are designed to teach students proper court conduct and how to apply their knowledge of criminal justice to their dispositional hearings.

Currently, there are 40 active volunteers from schools across Summit County volunteering on Teen Court, according to the county’s Community Outreach Director Don Ursetti.

“Students certainly get a great introduction to the juvenile court and juvenile justice system,” Ursetti said. “They get service hours as volunteers. Some youth will take this experience as a springboard to enter law enforcement or a law career.”

In fact, Ursetti also noted that Judge Teodosio recently swore a young lady into the Ohio Bar Association who got her inspiration to be a lawyer from her experience on Teen Court.

Teen Court, however, doesn’t get to hear high profile cases involving violent crimes.

“Low level, non-violent misdemeanors are heard by the Teen Court,” Ursetti said. “It is a diversion program, which means it hears cases that aren’t extremely serious and are referred to the Teen Court by our magistrates.”

One case that was heard by Teen Court involved a group of students who went to an abandoned house to take photos for a school art project. The house had a “no trespassing” sign posted at the entrance, and the students were caught by the police and charged with trespassing. Teen Court ordered the students to write an apology letter to the police officer and the homeowner, along with creating a “no trespassing” sign for the home.

Another example involved a group of students who received a jaywalking citation for crossing railroad tracks to get to an Akron high school. Teen Court ordered these students to take a railroad crossing safety class and create posters that promoted safe railroad crossing to be posted at the school.

Teen Court is presided over by an actual court magistrate who explains the offense(s) to the students. Magistrate Rita Rochford has been working with the Summit County Teen Court for the last five years.

Overall, the goal of Teen Court is to provide students a real-life avenue to get involved in criminal justice while offering an alternative way to handle dispositional hearings for juvenile delinquents.

“A lot of people participate in Teen Court because they are interested in criminal justice or law,” Rochford said. “Some kids do it for service hours, some do it because they’re trying different things, but most of the kids at least have some interest in criminal justice.”