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One Teen Court volunteer writes:
I heard about Teen Court a while ago, maybe around 1999 or earlier,
I don’t remember. There was an advertisement in the newspaper,
my mommy told me about it. I was like “eww no, why would I
want to do that.” She explained how there were teen attorneys
and teen jurors and even teen defendants with a real judge. I still
was like “eww.” So that topic quickly died down. The
beginning of April 2002, I got into a fight with a girl and due
to the seriousness of what happened and previous encounters of getting
into trouble, I was kicked out of school and sent to Teen Court.
I went through the whole process of being a defendant, being sentenced,
and doing community service. It was a tough process, but I got through
it. After I did my jury duties, I saw how the teen attorneys went
about doing things. I then later realized that since I wanted to
be a lawyer when I grow up that I could try doing this. So I signed
up to go to a 2-day training, which shows you how to question defendants
and the basic procedure of the court. The training is really fun.
You get to interact with other teens and the instructors are real
cool too especially Jenna (you’ll love her, but that is another
story!). As soon as the training was over, I got to do my very first
case. But don’t get too happy because you are just a shadow.
After I shadowed my first case I got to pick between being a prosecutor
or a defense attorney. Me personally, I like being a defense attorney.
Now I am on my 14th teen court case since I got into trouble. Teen
Court has helped me stay out of MAJOR trouble, I mean with me there
is going to be minor trouble, but it has helped me get out of a
lot of trouble. Teen Court is not just a place where you try people.
The instructors are there to actually help you, when I got suspended
from this year (2003) I talked to a former instructor about it and
she told me how to ignore conflicts. Teen Court is also a place
where you meet new people and a place where you experience new things.
So after you finish reading this, I hope that you will decide to
go to the training and become a teen attorney too. See you there!
-Britney
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| Who
Can Volunteer |
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Students
If you are a middle or high school student in Wake County, YOU
are eligable to volunteer.
Adults
Parents or other adults may serve as jury monitors, courtroom
monitors, or exit interviewers.
College & Law Students
Individuals, clubs, and Greek organizations can
recieve credit for performing community service hours and gain
experience with the criminal justice system.
Attorneys & Judges
Serve as mentor attorneys or preside over hearings. Volunteer
as often as twice a month or as little as once every four months.
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