WASHINGTON STATE ASSOCIATION OF YOUTH COURTS

Cheney Youth Court - "We have recruited pre-law students from University of Washington and other entities to help train our student with opening, closing and questioning". Terri Cooper - Coordinator Shoreline Youth Court - "We are excited to have doubled the number of jurors serving on our youth court this year".  Youth Court Student Bellevue Youth Court - "This year we have been able to broaden the scope of the types of cases that we hear". Youth Court Student Redmond Youth Court - "We are organizing and starting a new youth court this year". Youth Court Student Whatcom Youth Court - "This year we have increased the number of high schools participating in youth court from 6 to 8".  Youth Court Student Seattle Youth Court - "This past January several of our youth court students participated in the Civics Summit at the Weston Hotel with guest speaker Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor".  Margaret Fisher - Coordinat...

Register now for the upcoming Washington State Association of Youth Courts Annual Conference. This is a free conference for youth/adults/new or organizing youth court staff - October 20th, 2018.  Seattle University School of Law 10-3:30pm Please contact:  Margaret Fisher:  margaret.fisher@courts.wa.gov for registration information.

Executive Board Annual Retreat at Seattle University School of Law

Youth court aims to educate teens about traffic violations The ticket is not reported to the Department of Licensing, and there are no insurance ramifications.  By Lizz Giordano Everett Herald Wednesday, May 30, 2018 6:18am Julia Kozak questions a fellow high school student during a hearing in Bothell Youth Court. (Lizz Giordano / The Herald) BOTHELL —Judge Michelle Gehlsen has just a few minutes to emphasize the importance of safe driving skills to teenagers appearing before her with traffic violations. “Usually the parent just pays the ticket, but how does that change behavior? What did they learn?” said Gehlsen, who works in Bothell Municipal Court. “I didn’t have time to really educate.” Car crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rather than just paying a fine, Gehlsen wanted a process that would allow offending teenagers time to reflect. That dilemma led her to establish the Bothell ...

South African students joined their peers at Seattle Youth Traffic Court and four had the chance to serve on the youth court juries. The students are from the Foundation for International Understanding Through Students, a Seattle-based nonprofit based at UW that hosts groups of visiting international students for short-term exchanges focused on civic engagement and community service.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor visited Seattle Tuesday 1/30/18 for the Civics Summit at the Weston Hotel . She pushed for our schools to have a civics requirement and spoke about the importance of teaching kids how, and why, to engage with government. “Let’s give kids the opportunity to change their own lives,” she said, as many of those listening smiled at her. Sotomayor was in town to support the Council on Public Legal Education, a nonprofit whose mission is to promote public understanding of the law and civic rights and responsibilities. Sotomayor launched the localized version of the national online iCivics curriculum , a program that was founded in 2009 by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. Washington is only the second state in the country to tailor the curriculum on how government works to the local level. Milena Haile, a 16-year-old junior at Garfield High School, had demonstrated the workings of Seattle’s Youth Traffic Court to Sotomayor earl...