Teen Courts: A Call for Accountability

Teen courts, also known as youth courts or peer courts, are not new phenomena.  Since the 1970s, over 800 teen courts have popped up around the nation; the majority were created in response to the United States Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s (OJJDP) push for alternative juvenile programs in the 1990s.  While the court itself varies between four models, discussed below, jurisdictions across the country use teen courts to address the same types of offenders and crimes: first-time offenders, aged 11-17, who have been accused of misdemeanors such as theft, vandalism, underage drinking, disorderly conduct, assault, possession of marijuana, tobacco violations, and curfew violations.  Because the teen court is offered as an alternative to going through the juvenile justice system, the accused typically have to admit guilt prior to admittance to the program.  

Recidivism, Restorative Justice, and the Abnormally High Rate Of Rape In Alaska

In a recent article, CNN reporter John D. Sutter referred to the state of Alaska as “the national epicenter of rape.”  Sutter is not some avid anti-Alaskan, nor does he seem to harbor any irrational dislikes of the Pacific Northwest.  Rather, Sutter wrote the article in response to the 2012 FBI crime statistics, which showed Alaska to have the highest rate of reported rape.  According to the FBI report, eighty rapes are reported for every 100,000 people; almost three times the national average of twenty-seven.  In comparison to New Jersey, where rape is reported the least, Alaska’s rapes per 100,000 people is seven times higher.  Sutter’s report went even deeper and found that 59% of women in Alaska have experienced “sexual or intimate partner violence, and that four in ten women reported to have been raped or sexually assaulted.