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Show t- -.-- ,;. , Teen 'Age Juries: j t". -- I V 3' v if a I v ..i. : v I 4 .i ... lTrvrrnV I. ..." (J?1 fi p ... if of it -.- WV o- year-old-! IN THE high-ceilinge- room d the Garland County Circuit Court in Hot Springs, Ark., the judge turned to the jury, box, "Have you reached a verdict?" he.asked. The jury foreman, his face intent, stoog and replied: "Your honor, we, the jury, find the defendant guilty. We recommend The setting and the words were not .unusual. But the jurors in the jury box were extraordinary. Each was only 17 years old, the same age as the defendant. They were part of a revolutionary new concept of teenage justice designed to help youths help themselves. Today, juvenile et are sitting in judgment on youthful offenders in more than 75 cities and counties. " Final decisions in the trials, of course, are up to the judges. The juvenile juries can only recommend a verdict and a punishment; they serve in an advisory capacity because, legally, jurors in most states must be at least 21. But enthusiastic judges seldom fail to heed the findings and suggestions. The juvenile-jur- y system brings astonishing drops in youthful delinquency. In Hot Springs, Circuit Judge Lon Warneke( a former pitching star with the Chicago Cubs and ..." . ju-ri- . teen-ager- s' Fimily Weekly, November SI, 19tS the St Louis Cardinals) says: "I think it is the finest thing that can happen to a juvenile court anywhere. Since we inaugurated the plan here, youth court cases have been cut 60 to 75 percent - Juvenile juries are credited with an 84 percent decrease in teen-ag- e traffic cases in Fort Worth, Tex. Au- thorities in Ironton, Ohio, say juvenile offenses there have dropped 12 percent. A 40 percent decrease is estimated in Greensboro, N.C Percentages are equally high in Hamburg, N.Y, and Greeley, Colo. Authorities in Terre Haute, Ind., reported a 75 percent decrease in juvenile crime the first year after teenage juries were started there. Another blessing, say many judges, is that the young jurors lose their own fear of the law. They see others of their age charged, convicted, and sentenced and they learn the significance of civic responsibility. ol The trial of a in Terre Haute's Judrop-ovenile Court is typical of the way teen-ag- e juries work. It was a minor larceny case. The defendant had been caught stealing a 981 key chain from the counter of a department store. He was already on informal probation for another theft. The jury panel was made up of three boys and four girls, selected at random from a list of 210 prospec- high-scho- ut members chosen tive juvenile-jur- y from local high schools. Before the trial, Vigo County Judge Johnston briefed the jurors on state law. Juvenile Referee Herbert k warned : "Remember, you're dealing with a human being with " his feelings, his future, and possibly his whole way of life." The young jurors took chairs along the wall of the courtroom, fidgeted, looked painfully serious. Referee Gerdink stood and administered this "promise" (legally the teen- -' agers cannot take an "oath") : "As the Youth Jury of the Vigo Youth Council, do you hereby promise to keep any and all information regarding these proceedings c6nfidential and sacred, so help you God?" The jurors responded: "I wilL" Gwdink then read the charge. The defendant, with mumbled "yeahs," agreed that the specifics-- . tions were accurate." His school and probation records were reviewed. Then the jury retired to deliberate. The jury foreman asenior nattily dressed in a shirt, thin tie, and black sport jacket opened the discussion: "Does anybody know anything about the scuttlebutt around school on this guy?" No one did. After studying the past records, the young jurors filed back into the courtroom with their verdict: guilty. Their rec - -- H.-Ral- ph Ger-din- - . .- - ' . - - high-scho- tab-coll- ol ar -- ommendation: he should" remain on probation until his 18th birthday, lose his learner's driving permit, and enroll in a night vocational school. And the court so ordered. . Juvenile juries often recommend unusual punishments, knowing that public ridicule is more effective with others their age than ordinary sentences. In Hamburg, N.Y, teen-ag- e offenders are often ordered to clean, town property in public Another common recommendation is that youths found guilty of maliciously ; destroying property get a job to pay the costs of restoring the damage. In Hinsdale, I1L, a juvenile jury recom- mended that a shoplifter work in the store she had robbed until she paid for the jewelry, she had taken. Young jurors in Jacksonville, Fla., cracked dowfcon an offender's parent The father confessed to the court that he couldn't control his son. s' The recommendation: if he couldn't discipline his son in private, he should do it in public. The father was given a choice spank his son in front of the open court, or the boy would be sent to jail. The father complied. When he was finished, the convicted youth told the jurors: "I'm sorry it took' a judge to make my old man do what he should have done a long time ago." When Terre Haute decided to insystem augurate the juvenile-jur- y : teen-ager- - ? |