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IBA: Volunteer Judges Needed for Teen Court

From IBA
September 26, 2012
Keywords
Bar Associations/Foundations, Indianapolis Bar Association
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Reach for Youth is seeking local attorneys to serve as volunteer judges at Teen Court, a program designed to reduce recidivism for first-time juvenile offenders by giving them a second chance to repair the harm they’ve caused without experiencing formal court prosecution.

Teen Court also helps teens and pre-teens, aged 11 to 17, to be accountable by providing constructive consequences for their actions while providing leadership opportunities and resolution training for young volunteers as participants in the peer-sentencing court. When teens successfully complete Teen Court, the original charges are dismissed by the court and their record stays “clean.”

The Teen Court program is held three times a week, with each court night beginning at 6 p.m. and concluding around 7:30 p.m. Attorney volunteers serving as volunteer judges preside over three cases scheduled each night. Volunteers are asked to commit to at least one court night per quarter, though greater involvement is welcomed and encouraged. Training is provided to all volunteers. Volunteer schedules are flexible and are typically distributed four to six months in advance.

An Open House will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 18, where prospective volunteers will be able to view a mock Teen Court session to learn more about the program.

Interested in volunteering? Contact Chris Ponti at chrisp@reachforyouth.org, or visit the Reach for Youth website at www.reachforyouth.org to learn more about the program.•

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  1. Judge Roger B. Cosbey is unethical and bias toward African American who seeks justice in Title VII claims. He disrespected and used his authority to attempt to intimidate me into taking an unfair settlement and when I refused he proceeded to get my case dismissed and to deny me my Constitutional and Civil Rights. He disobeying several rules of law; specifically, by ruling on summary judgment motions against the Fed. R. Civ. P., without authority of Judge William C. Lee, without consent of the attorneys, and with conspiracy to commit “fraud on the court,” as he conspired with my former attorney. He proved to me that he is bias, unethical, unfair and unfit to be reappointed. In my opinion, he should be disbarred in 2013, for committing fraud on the court, which would make him ineligible for reinstatement in 2014. See docket 3:07 cv 629 where he rules on dispositive motions, knowing magistrates are not vested with that power (especially without consent), grants the defendant an unconscionable number of extensions, accepts my former attorney request for extension for dispositive motion knowing he was working with the opposition, and unbelievably grants the defendant another extension after he requested an extension after he missed the deadline. I know another attorney filed charges against him for bias in race discrimination case(s). I know what he did in my case before he voluntarily recused himself, I just do not know how many other innocent people have been stripped of their rights because of him. I say shame on him and no more of the same.

  2. they are pushing these cases against lawyers too far. thought-crime.

  3. vagueness cannot challenged, so let's write all laws vaguely and throw the constitution out the window.Even if the court is operating under a particular law, if they don't it they will change it to their liking. What a joke!!!

  4. Two convictions becomes one conviction with exactly the same sentence, only it is not clear wheter or not that sentence will be 18 months, 120 months or 138 months. Actually if the guns were in a home, whether or not they were his, he is protected under the 2nd amendment. Jurors need to learn the law and the constitution before judging others. The cour5ts need to do this as well.

  5. With all due respect, Rick, I think you probably would be making a mistake by going to law school. The job market for attorneys is so saturated, you may well find yourself unemployed and with a lot of debt. You mention law would be a good supplement to your skills. True. But employers unfortunately don't value that. You will find that a law degree may well pigeonhole you into an attorney slot and limit career options. If you have a good job now I would hold onto that. As an attorney, you may well end up making less with the aforementioned debt.

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