Dear LRE Leaders--

I want to share with you some good news about youth courts and the new free booklet published by the American Bar Association.

The United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children served as an international launch site for youth courts on May 8 in New York City. One thousand copies of the ABA's new Roadmap booklet--Youth Courts: Young People Delivering Justice--were distributed at the session. The national youth court initiative was the only youth program in the United States to be featured in this U.N. event which is held every ten years, and the ABA's Roadmap booklet was selected to be the only youth court publication distributed at the event.

Youth Courts: Young People Delivering Justice was also prominently featured at the April 16 plenary session of the National Youth Court Conference attended by over one thousand youth court coordinators and youth and adult volunteers in Arlington, VA. Nearly 7,000 free copies of the booklet were mailed to members of the U.S. Congress; state governors and attorneys general; state, local, women's, and minority bar associations and young lawyer affiliates; state supreme courts; selected metropolitan trial courts; juvenile and family court judges; youth courts; and organizations interested in justice improvement. A downloadable copy of the booklet is on the ABA Web site at www.abanet.org/justice.

Youth Courts: Young People Delivering Justice, written by Washington LRE coordinator Margaret Fisher, concisely introduces youth courts to courts, bar associations, and the general public. Youth court, a relatively new program that is also known as teen court or peer jury, engages youth volunteers in helping their peers who have committed delinquent acts or have exhibited other problem behaviors. Youth courts are not formal courts, but commonly serve as sentencing hearings for first-time offenders who have acknowledged their guilt and agreed along with their parents or guardians to accept a sentence determined by their peers.

Youth courts are among the "justice initiatives" supported by the ABA's Coalition for Justice, since they involve the non-lawyer public with courts and bar associations in projects to improve the justice system. While youth court programs are not formal courts, they are considered to be therapeutic or problem-solving courts as they attempt to address the needs of youth respondents by using principles of restorative justice. Youth courts frequently use community service, apologies to victims, and jury duty as dispositions in order to help youth respondents become productive members of their communities.

The 36-page Youth Courts booklet provides an overview of youth courts and describes their structure, funding, effectiveness, and challenges, as well as the collaboration needed among the legal, law enforcement, and education professions and the community and youth volunteers. Ten local youth courts representing juvenile justice, community, and school settings as well as innovative variations are profiled. Information about statewide youth court associations and additional youth court resources are provided.

The booklets are currently out of stock, but we plan to reprint very soon. To order a complimentary copy, call the ABA Service Center (800/285-2221) and request PC# 3460012. The booklet was produced by the American Bar Association's Coalition for Justice with support from the National Youth Court Center and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

Contact me for further information.