Colfax, Rosalia schools to launch youth courts

Two Whitman County schools this year will give their students the ability to act as a sentencing panel for students who violate school rules.

Robert Russell, a part-time teacher and athletics and activities director at Garfield Middle School, has set up Youth Courts in Colfax and Rosalia high schools.

Russell said the idea of the court is to give students a clearer picture of the inner workings of the American justice system.

“One of the things I tell my eighth graders is the closest to the constitution we ever get is serving on a jury,” said Russell.

Under the Youth Court setup, a student who admits breaking school rules would be able to plead their case before the student jury. Jurors would then decide what that student should do to make their victim and the school whole, and give the offending student a sentence of community service.

“As an example, a kid who pulls a fire alarm would have to work 10 hours volunteering at the fire department,” said Russell.

He calls it restorative justice, and he thinks it will work better than traditional punishment.

“A principal or a vice principal have a very limited range of things they can do,” said Russell. “A lot of times you suspend a kid and they’ve gotten exactly what they wanted.”

Russell believes restorative sentences handed down from a Youth Court jury gets them more involved in the community.

“And who knows? That kid that pulled the fire alarm might find out he really wants to be a firefighter,” said Russell.

It’s that involvement in the community that has interested Colfax social studies teacher Ross Swan.

“I think it’s kind of an exciting way to get kids more involved in our justice system and be thinking about maybe careers in law,” he said.

Russell, along with county District Court Judge Douglas Robinson met with dozens of students from Rosalia and Colfax who said they would be interested in participating.

“It’s a neat concept,” said Rosalia Principal Darrell Kuhn. “I really think it could be a great thing for our kids.”

Russell said the youth court model is a concept proven to work across the nation.

The more than 1,000 youth courts in the United States and the dozen or so in Washington have shown students who go through the process are 40 percent less likely to commit another offense.

Some youth courts have progressed past rules violations and rule on traffic or truancy matters, as well.

The schools will hold a training session on the Youth Court system in the district court room in the county courthouse Saturday, Oct 2.

Russell invited anyone who is interested in the program to attend the session. He is especially interested to hear from community organizations who would be willing to use students sentenced by a jury as volunteers.

“I really enjoy the fact that our district court Judge Robinson is willing to get involved,” said Swan. “I think it shows how much he, and the lawyers who have volunteered, really want to help people.”

One of those who has volunteered his personal time is Deputy Prosecutor Dan LeBeau who said he liked the idea once he heard it.

“This seems like a good way to introduce them into the justice system and see how it works,” said LeBeau. “Hopefully we can get a few of these kids that might run into trouble ahead of time before they get into the system.”

The Oct. 2 training session will run students through a variety of scenarios to give them an idea of what they might face.

“I think this is something they will take pretty seriously,” said Kuhn. “There’s a lot of depth to these kids. There’s more to them than a lot of adults give them credit for.”

Russell said he eventually wants to expand the youth court countywide. Officials from a number of school districts have told him they will watch the first year and may join in if they like what they see.