New Youth Court Members Ready To Dispense Teen Justice

OSWEGO, NY – Seventeen students from around the county became the newest members of Oswego County’s Youth Court on Tuesday night.

Oswego County Family Court Judge Kim Seager administered the oath at the Oswego County Courthouse on Oneida Street as members of the graduates’ families looked on, many of them taking photographs.

The new members were presented with graduation certificates.

Brian Chetney, director of the Oswego City-County Youth Bureau, explained that Youth Court is “a recognized community diversion program aimed at keeping young offenders out of Family Court.”

It’s a national program that is more than 40 years old; it’s 34 years old this year in Oswego County, Sam Crisafulli, Youth Court co-coordinator, said.

Oswego’s is the second oldest program in New York State, he added.

Oswego’s Youth Court has been around since the mid 1980s and was one of the few such programs in the country. Now, there are more than 70 Youth Courts operating in New York State alone. There are Youth Courts in every state in the country.

Over the years, the program has spread throughout the country, “The reason for that is that it works,” according to Crisafulli. “It started as a diversion program for Family Court.”

The goal is not just to punish the offenders, but to teach them a lesson and hopefully not get into trouble again, he explained.

Research has shown that youth who go through the Youth Court process “are very unlikely” to be repeat offenders.

Seager agreed.

“It gives young offenders who stay out of trouble a fresh start,” she said, adding that also reduces the number of cases that wind up in Family Court.

The court handles cases of youth from age 7 to 18. The number of cases Youth Court handles varies; on average, it’s around 40 to 50 cases a year.

“It teaches young people a lot about fairness and to take responsibility for their actions,” Crisafulli said.

It eases the financial burden on Family Court; it educates not only the members but also the offenders who have an opportunity to learn about the criminal justice system, be judged by their peers and be held accountable for their crimes, Chetney told Oswego County Today prior to the ceremony.

Kevin Gardner, chair of the Oswego County Legislature applauded the students for giving back to their communities. The community service will also look good on their resumes for college, he added.

The students are taking part in Youth Court because they care about their community and want to make it better, he said.

Seager praised the members of Youth Court for reaching out to make a difference.

“You’re doing something extra to make a positive difference in your community,” she told them. “Being (a Youth Court member) is more than just judging. It’s reaching out to help the young person make better choices in the future; those kinds of opportunities are hard to come by.”

If a young (offender) goes to Youth Court, it frees up Family Court, “so thank you for the work that you do,” she said. And, a young person who goes through Youth Court is less likely to get into trouble again, she added.

“You save us time and money. But you also save a young person who will hopefully listen to your advice,” she said.

She also recognized the parents who “give up their time” to help the students complete the program and become Youth Court members.

Several current court members held a mock trial to show the public what takes place during a Youth Court session.

Offenders can be referred through several agencies, Crisafulli said, including: Oswego and Fulton PD, New York State Police, Oswego County Sheriff’s Department, Probation Department, town and village police departments as well as local school districts.

Youth can be sent to the program for crimes such as unlawful possession of marijuana, disorderly conduct, petit larceny, trespass, making graffiti, criminal mischief, assault, possession of stolen property and others.

Community service hours are the most likely sentence; it’s used in 99 percent of Youth Courts. Others include writing a letter of apology or essay, restitution, attending programs at Farnham and others.

All facets of the cases are held in strict confidentiality.

Youth Court isn’t a fact-finding court, Chetney pointed out. It’s a system, backed by police, where juvenile offenders who have committed a minor crime and have admitted their guilt are tried by their peers in a court of law.

Overall, 93 percent of the Youth Courts are “punishment only” – requiring youth offenders to admit guilt before assigning sanctions.

Members are trained to become judges, defense attorneys, prosecutors and court clerks.

Sixteen members are assigned a case; eight of them are potential substitutes in case someone can’t make it. Also, if one of the members knows the defendant, a different court member is assigned.

The average amount of training for members is 10 hours. Oswego County Youth Court members receive more than 20 hours of training.

The goal of Youth Court is to prevent kids from continuing the behavior that got them in trouble in the first place.

The advantages of Youth Court would be that defendants don’t have to pay lawyer fees, there is no record kept on file, and the most punishment they can have is several hours of community service and possibly reparation fees, Crisafulli said.

Sentences are based on attitude of the defendant, age, outside circumstances, punishment received at home, and what was done to make up for his/her actions.

The purpose of the sentence is to deter the defendants from committing further crimes.

When a defendant reaches the age of 16 (and they’ve stayed out of trouble), the Youth Bureau shreds the court files and the person’s record is clean.

If someone decides they don’t want to go through Youth Court, their case is kicked back to the arresting officer and then Family Court.

The youth who were sworn in are: Anthony Ascenzi, Alex Chetney, Jake Chetney, Caleb Frost, Noah Hosier, Colin Li, Lily Mathews, Miah Metott, Zachary Metott and Cassandra Romeo all of Oswego; Lucas Bacon of Altmar; Marisa Barber of Parish; Drucilla Biela of Bernhards Bay; Paige Kingsley, Ethan Locastro and Camille Stevenson all of Fulton; and Dalton Megnin of West Monroe.

“This is a great responsibility that you have taken and I thank you for taking time out of your busy summer,” Chetney told the new members. “On behalf of the Oswego City-County Youth Bureau – congratulations and good luck!”

The program is operated by the Oswego City-County Youth Bureau with funding from the county and city and the NYS Office of Children and Family Services.

For more information on the program, call the Youth Bureau at 349-3451 or 1-800-596-3200 ext. 3451.

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