Local News - February 2003

Order in the classroom

Student court

By JEREMY ASHTON, LTN Staff Writer

February 5, 2003 - Court is in session at Lincoln Charter School with Judge Keith Hain presiding.

The six jurors are comfortably seated in the back of the “courtroom” while the accused takes a spot in the front. Meanwhile, anxious onlookers listen to the defendant’s testimony and the probing questions from the jury that follow.

The jurors hear all the evidence and step out of the room to deliberate. They return minutes later to proclaim the defendant guilty and sentence him to — sit out of his next P.E. class and write an essay apologizing to his teacher.

To a certain extent, this is how discipline problems have been handled in the charter school’s sixth grade since October. Instead of teachers and administrators having the first and last word on justice, students are getting a say.

“I feel like the middle school kids at their age need to have a voice … ,” said Hain, a middle school history teacher when he isn’t acting as the student court judge. “I felt it would be a way to shift some responsibility to them as far as conducting themselves.”

Since he has been teaching all of his classes about the U.S. judicial system, Hain thought the court would provide good first-hand experience.

When the court began in October, Hain’s students elected the six-member jury. Aside from deciding a defendant’s guilt or innocence, the group interviews teachers to determine whether or not a case is worth a trial, acting like a grand jury.

The president of the jury, Brooke Rogers, leads the group’s deliberations and selects the final punishments for guilty parties. The vice president, Matthew Smith, takes over Rogers’ role if she isn’t in school on the day of a trial and helps make decisions. The advisor, Emily Bumgarner, is a third special member of the jury who reports to Principal Bill Elmore if the group is having a lot of problems with the same person.

According to Hain, the trial process has made all of his students much more aware of their behavior. Even the jurors are held accountable by the rest of their classmates and can be removed from their positions for repeated offenses.

“It helps the teachers out because it gets rid of the trouble, and the talking (in class) goes down,” Smith said.

Some of the students have appreciated the trials for another reason.

“Instead of the whole class being punished, certain people get punished,” Rogers said.

Before the first court session, Hain was asked if students would be embarrassed by being put on trial. Thus far, he has found that their peers have been very respectful since they understand they could be next.

Hain has also been impressed with what students have learned from the judicial process.

Some defendants have done a “very eloquent job” of professing their innocence, he said. Others have invoked their constitutional right not to incriminate themselves and have said little when questioned.

On the other side, Hain has noticed the jurors are asking “perceptive questions.”

In one case, a student was on trial who had special needs that may have contributed to the behavior problem. Before Hain could give any instruction on the matter, the jury asked if that was an issue they should consider when making their ruling.

“They really think through things and get their point across but still maintain their friendships,” Hain said.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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