POPAI

Teen Court saves tax dollars

ANGOLA — If everybody walked on water justice wouldn’t even be a word but when the punishment fits the crime, criminal offenses seldom get repeated.

Steuben County’s Teen Court, sponsored by the state’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, provides a jury of peers for teenagers accused of low-level misdemeanor offenses. Front row, from left: Steuben County Assistant Prosecutor David Brown and Teen Court Administrative Assistant Kelly Gonya; Fremont High School students Tressa Howey and Elyse Anzelmo. Second row, from left: Angola High School students Rylie Certa, Leila Cash and Genesis Munoz with Teen Court Judge Abbee Vetter from Sprunger & Sprunger Attorneys At Law. Third row, from left: Angola High School students Griffin Michael, Milena Antos, River Spreuer, Layla Hagerty and Angola Middle School student Dawson Hagan. Back row, from left: Angola High School student Darius Treadway and Steuben County JDAI Coordinator Kathy Armstrong. Those not in the photo include Angola High School students Mackenzee Wombacher, Kendall Stultz and Landin Stultz; Oak Farm Montessori School student Ivy Witmer and Steuben County Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Fisher who provides courthouse security.
Steuben County’s Teen Court, sponsored by the state’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, provides a jury of peers for teenagers accused of low-level misdemeanor offenses. Front row, from left: Steuben County Assistant Prosecutor David Brown and Teen Court Administrative Assistant Kelly Gonya; Fremont High School students Tressa Howey and Elyse Anzelmo. Second row, from left: Angola High School students Rylie Certa, Leila Cash and Genesis Munoz with Teen Court Judge Abbee Vetter from Sprunger & Sprunger Attorneys At Law. Third row, from left: Angola High School students Griffin Michael, Milena Antos, River Spreuer, Layla Hagerty and Angola Middle School student Dawson Hagan. Back row, from left: Angola High School student Darius Treadway and Steuben County JDAI Coordinator Kathy Armstrong. Those not in the photo include Angola High School students Mackenzee Wombacher, Kendall Stultz and Landin Stultz; Oak Farm Montessori School student Ivy Witmer and Steuben County Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Fisher who provides courthouse security.

That is why 12 high school students from across Steuben County came together Tuesday evening in Steuben County’s historic courthouse to serve as jurors in Teen Court. The Court is part of Indiana’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI) and conducts trials with a jury of young peers for low-level misdemeanors and first-time offenders. Thirty-one counties participate in the Initiative, including Steuben and LaGrange, while DeKalb and Noble do not.

“It’s kind of hard,” said River Spreuer. “Sometimes we already know the accused from school or know about them. It’s hard to push for what we need to know and remain unbiased but we have to. It’s not really fair if we don’t. If they did something wrong and feel bad about it they don’t need a harsh punishment.”

The problem
Harsh punishment includes time at the Allen County Juvenile Detention Center and, with a cost of $150 per day for incarceration, that is harsh on taxpayers: A standard misdemeanor conviction carries a two-week sentence that costs $2,100. The one-year sentence for a felony conviction costs $54,750. If a capital crime conviction requires a 15-year-old to stay until he turns 21, that will cost approximately $328,500. By comparison, Indiana’s in-state tuition at a public university costs $99.82 per day but with a decent academic scholarship and a work-study job, you can knock that down to about $56 per day.

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