El Paso’s Teen Court is a peer-driven, youth-led program that centers the well-being of teenagers, instead of condemning them to the destructive criminal justice system.
“If [students] are being told not only by teachers but by the system and everyone around them that they’re ‘bad kids,’ you’re sort of putting them on a path where they have no other choice but [to go] from school to prison,” says Judge Michelle Morales, founder of the Teen Court in El Paso, Texas.
A court of teenagers, by teenagers, and for teenagers, Teen Court is exactly what it sounds like: a program giving a new name to justice and serving young people across Texas. The court offers a voluntary alternative from the traditional court system for teens under 17 who commit Class C misdemeanors. Students can avoid a fine and instead receive their penalty in constructive ways such as community service and jury terms in the Teen Court. Once…