{"id":119539,"date":"2024-03-27T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com\/?p=119539"},"modified":"2024-03-27T13:23:10","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T17:23:10","slug":"riverhead-youth-court-is-in-session-and-run-by-teens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com\/2024\/03\/119539\/riverhead-youth-court-is-in-session-and-run-by-teens\/","title":{"rendered":"Riverhead Youth Court is in session and run by teens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Riverhead Youth Court is a voluntary alternative to the traditional juvenile justice system that allows first time nonviolent teenage offenders to be legally judged by a jury of their peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday nights, after Riverhead Town Justice Court closes for the day, another group enters to take their places in the courtroom for legal proceedings that have been quietly playing out in Riverhead for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The judge is 17 years old. The jurors are high school seniors. The prosecutors and defense attorneys are students from Riverhead or Shoreham-Wading River high schools. The defendant is facing real-world charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The students \u201clearn the inner workings of a criminal trial,\u201d said Riverhead Town Justice Lori Hulse, whose court often refers minor juvenile offenders to Youth Court, provided it meets certain criteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey can opt to participate in Youth Court \u2014 and when they do, they are committing to participate in the program,\u201d Justice Hulse said. \u201cThe good news for the defendant who has a case in my court is that, once it\u2019s referred to Youth Court and the individual fully participates, the case is dismissed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sentences can include up to 45 hours of community service, requirements to submit letters of apology, essays reflecting on the commission of the crime and a mandatory return to Youth Court at a future date to participate as juror in another defendant\u2019s sentencing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Youth Court essentially functions as a hybrid of a criminal trial and a sentencing hearing. Every defendant has already pleaded guilty and it\u2019s up to the Youth Court to debate the case and issue the sentence. Students<\/a> serving as attorneys make opening and closing arguments, call witnesses, issue objections and follow standard rules of courtroom procedure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After closing arguments, the student jury deliberates behind closed doors, while back in the courtroom, a Riverhead police officer with a law degree works with the student attorneys, offering suggestions and critiques of the performances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now in its 27th year, Riverhead\u2019s<\/a> is the oldest such youth court on Long Island, and one of only two on the island trying cases for defendants under age 20, according to the Riverhead police department. It was founded by Riverhead Police Chief David Hegermiller, who traveled upstate with a colleague in the 1990s to observe a youth court in Colonie, N.Y., then brought the program back to Riverhead.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last Tuesday\u2019s proceedings dealt with a juvenile who had confessed to petit larceny for stealing more than $200 in merchandise from an area store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prosecuting attorney told the judge and jury that the defendant walked into a store and put several items into a bag \u201cand walked past all points of sale before being stopped by a police officer. Under no circumstances is this responsible, acceptable or civil behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prosecution asked for a sentence of 40 hours of community service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their opening statement, the defense said there was more to the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a case about a young boy who made a mistake,\u201d the lead defense attorney said, contending that the defendant was pressured by a friend with whom he no longer associates to commit the crime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThroughout the course of this trial, please keep in mind that what the defendant did put no one in any kind of danger,\u201d the defense attorney said. \u201cNo one was at any physical risk because of his actions. As you will hear, the defendant has already written two apology letters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both the defendant and his mother were called to the stand to testify.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The defense asked for five hours of community service, and the nine person jury ultimately handed down eight hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This year, 52 students from Riverhead and Shoreham-Wading River high schools are participating in the program. Since its inception, the youth court has heard 276 cases, with more than 1,200 students over the years serving as judges, jurors or attorneys, Riverhead officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her 15 years coordinating the court, Riverhead police department youth counselor Beth Maccagli said she\u2019s witnessed remarkable transformations in students, who often start out shy and end up as excellent public speakers with palpable self-confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey come in, and they are hiding in the back and they don\u2019t speak in public,\u201d she said. \u201cThey will say, \u2018I don\u2019t do public speaking.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet some of her biggest stars this year started out as wallflowers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLorena Correa \u2014 she didn\u2019t participate for a very long time,\u201d she said, referring to a Riverhead High School senior involved in last week\u2019s case who is also captain of the school\u2019s mock trial team, which reached the county playoffs this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another \u201cyoung lady, who started in seventh grade and was new to the district, didn\u2019t participate at all. She could now run these courts,\u201d Ms. Maccagli said, ticking off one example after the next. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTiffany Perez \u2014 she did not do public speaking. She is a senior and she still comes to Youth Court,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s work: they have to create these cases, talk with these people. That always amazed me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI could never have done this when I was their age,\u201d she continued. \u201cYou\u2019re asking police officers questions, security guards, parents [of the defendants]. When the prosecution has to go up against parents, for them to be able to do that takes a lot of confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Maccagli and other officials involved in the program said the nature of the cases has changed in recent years. In the fall of 2018, New York State passed the Raise the Age law, raising the minimum age at which a youth can be prosecuted as an adult to 18. Bail reform legislation passed the following spring eliminated cash for most misdemeanor and nonviolent felony charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe cases we\u2019ve got since Raise the Age went from graffiti and petit larceny to [third-degree] assault, [third -degree] burglary and obstruction of justice \u2014 which can mean interfering with a police officer,\u201d Ms. Maccagli said, adding that the court \u201cused to be just violations and misdemeanors, but the ante has gone up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Riverhead court has also absorbed youth court cases from across eastern Suffolk County after other youth courts closed during the pandemic and never reopened. The Riverhead court now hears cases from as far afield as Shirley and the South Fork. The officials said in recent years the severity of the crimes has intensified; occasionally the Youth Court has handled cases involving some violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While many Riverhead Youth Court participants go on to become lawyers, even those with no plans for law school see value in the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Jack Fenech, 17, who served as the judge at last week\u2019s hearing, hopes to join the New York Fire Department and work his way into the FDNY\u2019s Bureau of Fire Investigation, which conducts criminal investigations into suspected arson cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe really big thing is just overall professionalism,\u201d he said of what he\u2019s learned. \u201cBecause when it comes to the seriousness of some of these cases \u2014 we\u2019ve come in to stabbing cases, we\u2019ve come in to drug abuse cases, we\u2019ve come across a very wide variety \u2026 Overall professionalism over basically the entire case\u201d is vital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Riverhead senior Tiana Atkins, 17, said she wants to be the first member of her family to earn a law degree. \u201cEveryone in my family are doctors and nurses,\u201d she said. \u201cI just want to be a lawyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shoreham-Wading River senior Shannon Redlein was a little embarrassed to admit that she first became interested in the law through a comic book hero named Daredevil, a practicing attorney in New York City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was a horrible public speaker,\u201d she said. \u201cHorrible. Stuttering. It\u2019s definitely given me some confidence in that sense. I also learned the logistics of just how a court of law works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also interesting to see what goes on in a jury room and how people interact with each other,\u201d she added. \u201cYou get to see the morality of different people and how they react to one another.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Riverhead Youth Court is a voluntary alternative to the traditional juvenile justice system that allows first time nonviolent teenage offenders to be legally judged by a jury of their peers. On Tuesday nights, after Riverhead Town Justice Court closes for the day, another group enters to take their places in the courtroom for legal proceedings…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2010,"featured_media":119540,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1743,35],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-119539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-story","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRiverhead Youth Court is in session and run by teens - Riverhead News Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Riverhead Youth Court is a voluntary alternative to the traditional juvenile justice system for first time nonviolent teenage offenders.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/riverheadnewsreview.timesreview.com\/2024\/03\/119539\/riverhead-youth-court-is-in-session-and-run-by-teens\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Riverhead Youth Court is in session and run by teens - 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