vii. youth criminal justice a c t - explore the ycja · youth criminal justice act • q1 87 legal...

Youth Criminal Justice Act • Q1 87

Legal Qu e s t

Lessons 1-4: New Directions: Youth and the Law

VII. Youth Criminal Justice A c t

§ Outcomes

• The Canadian justice systemrecognizes that youth crime andadult crime need to be dealt withdifferently. Maturity is a factorin making choices and being ableto foresee the probable conse-quences of your actions.• Youth legislation applies topeople 12 to 17 years of age,inclusive.• The purpose of the legislationis to prevent crime by addressingthe circumstances underlying ayoung person’s offending behav-iour, to rehabilitate young per-sons who commit offences andreintegrate them into society andto ensure that a young person issubject to meaningful conse-quences for his or her offence. • Young people who commitcrimes have rights and shouldknow what those rights are.• Police and Crown counsel candivert young people away fromthe court system. They can usealternative measures in the com-munity.• Understanding the role of vic-tim in the youth justice system.• Young people who commit sev-eral offences or more seriousoffences will be dealt with inyouth court or adult court,depending on the decision ofCrown counsel whether to applyto have the accused sentenced asan adult.• If found guilty, the accused willbe sentenced by a judge who mayrely on a pre-sentence report, avictim impact statement andsubmissions made by counsel.• Judges have many differentsentencing options, ranging fromabsolute discharges to time spentin custody.• The consequences of commit-ting a criminal offence can beserious.

The BasicsNew Directions in Youth JusticeYouth Criminal Justice Act

IntroductionPrinciplesWhat Does the New Law Do?Legal Rights Violent and Repeat OffendersNon-Violent Crime and First Time OffendersCustody as a ConsequenceAlternatives to the Formal Court ProcessRestorative JusticeRehabilitationReintegrationConsequences of Having a Criminal Record

The Activities

& Discussion: Why Do We Have Youth Legislation? What Does It Say?

& Worksheet: What’s It All About? Youth Justice

➵ Scenarios: Personal Incident and Trevor’sStory

& Scenario: Community Justice Conference: Facts and Simulation Script

➵ Scenarios: The Victim’s Point of View

& Worksheet: Police Discretion, Crown Diversion and Court Options

➵ Scenarios: Working with Case Studies

➵ Worksheet: Youth Justice Test

✮ Challenges: Five Available

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New Directions in Youth JusticeThe Federal Government has recently passed the Youth Criminal Justice Act(Act). The principles of the Youth Justice Renewal Initiative (Initiative) andwhat it accomplishes are set out below as well as a synopsis of the importantchanges that are part of the new legislation.

Three basic principles of the Youth Criminal Justice Act are to prevent crimeby addressing the circumstances underlying a young person’s offending behav-iour, to rehabilitate young persons who commit offences and reintegrate theminto society and to ensure that a young person is subject to meaningful conse-quences for his or her offence. These principles promote the long term pro-tection of the public.

One important point of the new legislation is the distinction between non-vio-lent offenders and violent offenders and between first-time offenders andrepeat offenders. Sentencing reflects the plan of the government for the com-munity to become even more involved in the rehabilitation of the youngoffenders and their reintegration back into the community. This includesmore diversion away from the court system by police and the Crown.Community based programs will be an integral and large part of theInitiative. Young people can expect meaningful consequences to be carried outin the community if they become involved in crime. Greater involvement of thevictim in the process can help young people to be rehabilitated and reinte-grated into the community.

British Columbia has been involved in many of these initiatives. In fact, theAct is to some extent, modeled after some B.C. programs that emphasize thenotion of restorative justice.

The legislation reserves custody for the most serious and violent offenders orrepeat offenders. The seriousness of the consequences will be closely matchedto the seriousness of the crime. Youth who are found guilty of attempted mur-der, murder, manslaughter, aggravated sexual assault, or their third seriousviolent offence may expect to receive adult sentences. Government serviceswill be implemented by the provinces to increase the likelihood of rehabilita-tion while in custody and also to ensure that, once released, youth are closelysupervised and assisted in their reintegration into society.

Youth Justice Renewal InitiativeThis initiative looks beyond the legislation and the present youth justice sys-tem to find ways in which society, as a whole, can address youth crime and itsassociated concerns.

Canada’s youth justice system needs to protect society, command respect andfoster values such as accountability and responsibility. It must be made clearto young people that criminal behaviour will lead to serious consequences.

The BasicsInformation for the Teacher


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Changing the present law is not enough. Canadians must support young peo-ple and help them to avoid criminal involvement in the first place or try tohelp them turn their lives around so they don’t become involved in crime.

The Youth Justice Renewal Initiative examines how society and communitiescan work together to address youth crime by looking, not only at the offend-ers, but also at the underlying reasons for their involvement in crime.

The Youth Justice Renewal Initiative supports the use of alternatives to theformal court process such as diversion programs. Alternatives can involve thewhole community, the person involved, the parents, the teachers, the policeand the victims of the crime. Youth will be held accountable and will see thevalue that the community places on doing something to right the wrong done.These alternatives are called "Extrajudicial Measures and ExtrajudicialSanctions" in the new legislation.

Of course the courts will be used to deal with young offenders who have com-mitted serious offences or young people who are repeat offenders. New andexpanded sentences will apply and more emphasis will be placed on theirrehabilitation and reintegration.

Community-based court ordered sentences will be encouraged, where appro-priate. A community-based sentence could include restitution, compensationfor victims and restorative approaches, such as participating in a communityjustice conference, attendance at rehabilitative programs, community serviceand community supervision.

Communities will be directly involved with improving the supervision of andthe reintegration of violent or repeat young offenders who are released fromcustody into the community. The new sentences would provide for close super-vision and support in the community and would also include attendanceorders; intensive support and supervision orders; and deferred custody andsupervision orders.

One of the goals of this expanded involvement is to promote safer communi-ties over the long term.

Youth Criminal Justice ActThis Act forms the backbone to the restructuring of the youth justice system.The legislation reinforces the principle that the criminal justice system foryoung people is different from the one for adults. It provides a clear directionand it establishes a structure for the application of its principles. It alsoresolves inconsistencies in the present system.

The Act recognizes the role of the victim in community based measures as wellas in the court process, and includes them in the conference process. The vic-tim's right to information and access to the records of the young offender isestablished by the Act.


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Key Elements

Principles• Prevent crime by addressing the circumstances underlying a young person’s

behaviour• Rehabilitate and reintegrate young people who commit offences into society• Ensure that a young person is subject to meaningful consequences for his or

her offenceThese principles promote the long term protection of the public.

SentencingSentencing should reinforce respect for societal values, encourage the repair ofharm done to victims and the community, be meaningful for the individualyoung person and respect the special circumstances of that young person.• Have fewer young people in the formal justice system and have fewer custodial

sentences given for less serious offences• Enhance options for police and Crown discretion before or during the formal

court process. The police and Crown are given statutory authority to caution,reprimand and warn young people

• "Conferencing" is encouraged to allow the youth to be a participant in a processwith victims, family members and others to learn about the consequences of hisor her misbehaviour and to develop ways to make amends. Conferences can beconvened by the police, the prosecutor, or the judge.

• New sentencing options like a reprimand and intensive support and supervisionencourage non-custodial sentences where appropriate and support reintegra-t i o n

• Wider range of sentencing options to repair harm done• Encourages community-based referrals to deal with less serious offences• Provides a clear, consistent and coherent code for youth sentences in order to

reflect a fairer approach to sentencing• Purpose of sentencing is to hold a youth accountable for the offence committed

by imposing meaningful consequences and promoting the rehabilitation andreintegration of the youth thereby contributing to the long-term protection ofthe public

• Punishment imposed must not be greater than the punishment that would begiven to an adult in similar circumstances

• Punishment for the same offence, imposed in a region, in similar circumstancesshould be the same for all youth. The A c t creates a framework to accomplish this

• Provides that all proceedings against a youth take place in youth court whereage-appropriate due process protections apply. Ahearing on the appropriatenessof an adult sentence will only occur after a finding of guilt and all the evidenceabout the offence has been heard. The procedure will be speedier, retain age-appropriate due process protections and will be more respectful of the pre-sumption of innocence.

• Presumption that a youth under the age of 18 will serve an adult sentence in ayouth facility

• Allows courts to impose adult sentences upon conviction when certain criteriaare met

• Presumes that adult sentences will be given to young people 14 and older whoare found guilty of murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, aggravated sex-ual assault or who are repeat, serious violent offenders. The age limit for the


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presumption of adult sentences may vary from province to province at age14, 15 or 16.

• Creates a new intensive rehabilitative custody and conditional supervisionsentence for the most violent, high-risk young offenders so that they can getthe treatment they need as an alternative to being given an adult sentence

Custody and ReintegrationYoung people are more likely than adults to be rehabilitated and to becomelaw-abiding citizens. The Act:• Requires that youth be held separately from adults to reduce the risk that

they will be exposed to adult offenders• Requires that all periods of custody be followed by a period of supervision

and support in the community to ensure that the youth is closely monitoredand that s/he is receiving necessary treatment

• Requires the judge to state in court the portion of time to be spent in cus-tody and the portion of time to be served in the community

• Requires conditions to be imposed on periods of supervision and a reinte-gration plan for each youth

• States that a youth who breaches the conditions of community supervisioncould be returned to custody

• Gives flexibility to the provinces when determining the level of security forcustody and when to move the young offender who has reached the age ofadulthood while in custody to an adult facility

• Encourages continuity between the custody and the community portions ofthe sentence through increased reintegration planning throughout thewhole sentence

• Encourages the community and community agencies to participate in andto take an active role in the reintegration of young offenders

Publication and RecordsThe Act strives for a balance between transparency in the justice system andthe need for young people to be protected from negative publicity during theirrehabilitation. Publication of names will be allowed when:• A youth receives an adult sentence• When a youth receives a youth sentence for murder, attempted murder,

manslaughter, aggravated sexual assault, or has a pattern of convictions forserious violent offences unless the judge rules otherwise

• Is permitted only after the young person has been found guilty.• It is necessary to apprehend a young offender, under court order, who is at

large and is a danger to others

Non-Court ResponsesBy Police: taking no further actionExtrajudicial “measures” warning

cautionreferral to a community based agency

By Crown: warningExtrajudicial “sanctions” referral to a community based agency

For more information look on the website www.lawcourtsed.ca


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Youth Criminal Justice Act

I n t r o d u c t i o n : The Youth Criminal Justice Act applies to young people who are 12-17 years old. Offenders are referred to as "young persons". The overall purpose of theA c t is to make the public feel safe. Young people must be accountable for their actionswhich means that they must face the consequences for their wrong-doings. The con-sequence for the crime must be proportionate to the seriousness of the crime. Thatmeans that more serious crimes should have more serious consequences.

Principles of the A c t• Prevent crime by addressing the circumstances underlying a young person’s

b e h a v i o u r• Rehabilitate and reintegrate young people who commit offences into society• Ensure that a young person is subject to meaningful consequences for his or her

o f f e n c e

These principles promote the long term protection of the public.

What Does the New Law Do?: The Youth Criminal Justice Act establishes a fairand effective youth justice system. Serious and repeat offenders will be dealt withmore severely. There are many choices or options in sentencing. Victims, parents andthe community are encouraged to become involved in the process whether it is incourt or not.

Legal Rights: The accused youth has all the extra protections under the law suchas the right to remain silent, the right to know the reason for arrest and the right toretain legal counsel. The youth is entitled to legal counsel at arrest, at trial and whena sanction is being used. As well, a youth is entitled to have an adult or parent pres-ent when being questioned by the police. Youth can also waive their rights under theA c t.

Violent and Repeat Offenders: Serious violent crimes occur when someone getshurt as a result of a crime or if there is a serious risk of someone being hurt. Forexample, a robbery in which no one was injured could be considered "violent" if a gun,or even a replica of a gun, was used as a threat. A youth is a "repeat offender" if s/hehas committed a crime before. The Youth Criminal Justice Act can give an adult sen-tence to a youth 14 years old or older if that person has been convicted of one of fourserious violent offences or if the youth has a pattern of convictions for violent offences.This means that when a youth (14,15,16 or older) commits attempted murder, mur-d e r, manslaughter, aggravated sexual assault or a third serious violent offence anadult sentence shall be imposed if the youth is found guilty. The trial is always heldin youth court. Aprovince may fix an age greater than 14 years but not more than 16years for the purpose of the application of the provisions relating to these presump-tive offences. The A c t can provide for a sentence that includes special supervision ifthe youth has committed one of the more serious crimes. This special supervision iscalled "intensive rehabilitative custody." The maximum youth sentence in the A c t i sten years for first-degree murder, six years served in custody and four years undersupervision. The Youth Criminal Justice Act states that the media may publish thename of a youth who has been convicted of a serious violent crime and has receivedan adult sentence. If the youth does get an adult sentence for a serious violent crimethen the records are treated in the same way as if the youth were an adult.

The BasicsStudent Summary


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N o n - Violent Crime and First Time Offenders: Most youth who commit crimesare either non-violent or first time offenders. Non-violent and first time offenders willhave a range of options other than going to court such as police warnings or police orCrown diversion programs. Extrajudicial Measures and S a n c t i o n s may place youngpeople who offend into programs that will help address their problems and they mayalso provide an opportunity for restitution to the community. If they go to court sen-tences could include doing something for the victim to make up for the crime or doingsome form of community service.

Custody as a Consequence: Keeping people in custody has been shown not to bethe best approach for rehabilitation. When people are released they might commitfurther crimes because they have not broken their old habits. Therefore, alternativesto custody should be considered for youth.

Alternatives to the Formal Court Process: "Extrajudicial Measures andS a n c t i o n s" are designed to solve problems and to keep young people out of the courtsystem by having them take responsibility for their actions and, where appropriate,take other action such as to apologize, to attend counselling, to make restitution,among others. These extra-judicial measures and sanctions are often more meaning-ful and can help the youth focus on repairing the harm done to the victim and to thec o m m u n i t y.

Restorative Justice: Restorative justice means that those who are involved in acrime - victims, victims' families, youth who offend and the community - are encour-aged to reconcile, restore and repair relationships and situations.

R e h a b i l i t a t i o n: Rehabilitation means that young offenders must take steps toaddress some of his/her problems. This A c t believes that young people must be heldaccountable for their crimes. However, because of their age, young people are less setin their ways and they are more likely to respond to treatment programs and to besuccessfully rehabilitated and become law-abiding citizens. The A c t underscores theimportance of rehabilitation programs such as drug and alcohol counselling, angermanagement programs and job training.

R e i n t e g r a t i o n: Reintegration means that the youth must learn to fit back intohis/her community. The A c t makes this a priority. All custodial sentences will includea period of supervision in the community following the period of custody.Reintegration planning will be required for all youth in custody. There may be somerules that the youth must follow. The youth may have to attend school, obey a cur-f e w, not associate with certain people, not use drugs or alcohol and attend anger man-agement or drug and alcohol counselling. If these conditions are followed while theyouth is being closely supervised and supported then the youth has a better chance ofnot committing a crime again during this critical period.

Consequences of Having a Criminal Record: The convicted youth would havea criminal record for up to five years after s/he has completed his/her sentence or tenyears if a violent offence. If s/he commits another offence within that time period thenthe previous offence could be addressed in court especially in sentencing. Even a"closed" youth record can be reopened by the court at a later time if more offences arecommitted. A convicted youth may not be able to travel to another country or securecertain types of employment if they have a record. What youth need to realize is thattheir young offender criminal record will not automatically disappear after they reachthe age of 18. These are serious consequences for youth.


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Why Do We Have Youth Legislation? What Does It Say?

Ask the students to imagine two different teachers teaching a lesson - one tokindergarten students and one to grade seven students. During the lesson astudent in each class hits another student out of anger about something thathappened prior to class. Ask the students to discuss what the consequencesfor these actions might be in each case and ask the students to provide rea-sons as to why they think that the teachers might handle the incidents dif-ferently.The differences in the maturity of the children require differentresponses.

Explain to the students that the Canadian legal system recognizes that youthcrime and adult crime need to be dealt with differently, too, because weacknowledge that maturity aids us in making responsible choices and fore-seeing consequences.

The proposed Youth Criminal Justice Act is detailed in the preceding twopages. You could copy these pages to hand out to the students.

Discuss the points covered in the basics called What’s It All About? YouthJustice. Have the students complete the worksheet and then review theanswers with the class orally and elaborate with as much detail as time per-mits. Draw upon cases from current events where possible. Focus your oralreview of the answers on the key principles.

What’s It All About? Youth Justice1.) F 2.) T 3.) T 4) F 5.) T 6.) F 7.) T 8.) T 9.) T 10.) T 11.) T 12.) F 13.) T 14.) F 15.) T and 16.) T


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What’s It All About? Youth Justice

Read the article on the Youth Criminal Justice Act and use the articleto answer the following True/ False questions.

1. ________ Young people age 12-17 are not punished for the crimes theycommit.

2. ________ To prevent crime and to provide meaningful consequences toyouth who offend are two of the overall principles of youthjustice system.

3. ________ Youth who commit crimes have the right to counsel and the rightto remain silent.

4. ________ Parents are not part of the process after a youth is arrested.

5. ________ Police can decide whether or not to use diversion rather than togo to court.

6. ________ Police just warn the youth who has committed a serious crime.

7. ________ If extrajudicial measures were used then a youth would not becharged and s/he would not have a criminal record.

8. ________ If a youth is tried in youth court s/he may receive an adult sen-tence if convicted of attempted murder.

9. ________ A pre-sentence report helps a judge decide on an appropriatesentence for a youth who offends.

10. ________ Victims are allowed to make statements to the court about howthe crime has affected them.

11. ________ Repairing the harm done to the victim is a consequence a youthmight face.

12. ________ Performing community service hours is the only consequence fora youth convicted of murder.

13. ________ Counselling for anger management could be a condition ofprobation.

14. ________ A juvenile criminal record has no effect once the youth whooffended turns 18 years old.

15. ________ Following a rehabilitation program helps young people stay outof trouble.

16. ________ The name of a youth who offends may be published.

Name: _____________________________________ Date: _____________________


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What about the victims of youth crime?

Victims are allowed to submit victim impact statements to the court for theconsideration of the Youth Court judge prior to the sentencing of a youngoffender. This allows victims to become involved in the process by providingan opportunity for them to be heard. Repairing the harm to victims usuallytakes the form of compensation, restitution, or community service hours.Compensation means that victims are reimbursed for loss of or damage toproperty caused by the commission of the offence. Restitution is the return ofproperty to victims. The order may only be made at the time of sentencingand upon application by the victims. Work in the community will often beused as a way to compensate the whole of society. In the case of seriouscrimes, victims may not feel that they can be compensated in any way. Havethe students role-play to understand how victims of crime might feel.

The following activities will help students to understand the impact of crimeon victims.

Personal IncidentAsk the students to remember a time when something happened to them thatthey felt was unfair. Perhaps someone hurt them or took something fromthem and that person did not receive any punishment. Or perhaps their par-ents or someone their family knows has experienced a break and enter at theirhome or the theft of a car. Before students share their experiences orally havethem visualize the incident in their minds and try to recall where they wereat the time, who was involved, what was said and the details of the incident.The more detailed their memories are then the more readily they will be ableto relate to the impact of crime on victims in general. Have them share theirexperiences in small groups.

Brainstorm as to the various emotions that victims may experience: anger,sadness, fear and worry. Some of the students may have actually been a vic-tim themselves and this could trigger some emotional reactions especially if itwas a physical or sexual assault. Victims do need to tell someone but you maywant the school nurse on hand for counselling just in case.

Ask the students to consider what penalties or consequences could have beenimposed to make them feel like the wrong had been addressed. They couldconsider consequences such as payment for an item, replacement of an item,a letter of apology, time spent repairing something, or time spent rendering aservice.

Trevor’s StoryHave the students sit in small discussion groups. Read the following the storyto the class:

"Trevor was a troubled young man with no family. He lived in a group home.By 16, he had already been having run-ins with the police for a couple of yearsand most of the people who knew him, in the small B.C. town where he lived,were convinced that he would end up in jail. He did not attend school often nor


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did he have a job. Late one night the police caught him smashing the expen-sive plate-glass front window of a Main Street camera shop. He had plannedto break into the shop and to steal camera equipment, which he was going tosell to a pawnshop in the big city. He was going to use the money to buy amotorcycle. As he sat in the back seat of the police cruiser he knew his desirefor a motorbike was the least of his problems."

Pause at this point in the story and tell the class that Trevor could be chargedwith breaking and entering and that he might spend time in custody. Ask thestudents how the victim, the owner of the camera shop, might feel after hisshop window had been destroyed and some of his camera equipment had beendamaged. What do the students think this shop owner would want to havedone to right this wrong? What alternative(s) to the formal court systemmight exist for Trevor? Have the students in small groups discuss how thiscase could be resolved without having Trevor go to court. Have one memberof each group report back to the class. Continue the story.

"Trevor could have ended up in court however Crown counsel referred himto a Community Alternative Measures Program. When Trevor agreed toparticipate, a meeting was set up with the police officer, Trevor's group homeparents, the owner of the camera shop and other members of the communitywho deal with the counselling of young offenders. At the meeting, Trevor tookresponsibility for what he had done and he agreed to pay for the cost of replac-ing the window by working in the camera shop. He also agreed to a period ofcounselling to help him get his life on the right track."

Community Justice Conference

Our court system is adversarial — one side argues against the other. Whilethis seems to be a good method for settling many disputes, going to court canbe a time-consuming and expensive process. It can also leave many individu-als feeling dissatisfied. For example, victims of crime often feel that offendersdeserve stiffer sentences or, at times, victims feel neglected in the courtprocess. However, this is changing as the justice system begins to show moreconcern for victims.

Community justice conferencing has proven to be very effective in somesituations as a way of correcting wrongs in a cooperative manner. The con-ferences are facilitated in the community by police officers or volunteers whohave been trained in the process. The process requires that the offence isappropriate for this measure, that the offender is willing to admit to the wrong-ful action and to take responsibility for it and that the victim is willing toparticipate. The investigating police officer, the offender, the victim and otherpeople who are willing to support the victim and the offender (parents, grand-parents, siblings and/or friends) meet at a place arranged by the conferencef a c i l i t a t o r. They sit in a small circle and the facilitator leads them through aprocess which requires the offender to accept the responsibility for his or heractions. The victim has an opportunity to tell the offender how the wrongdoinghas affected him/her. Others in the circle get an opportunity to do the same.


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Then it's time for apologies from the offender to all who have been adverselyaffected. Next the victim and the others have an opportunity to suggest waysby which the youth can mitigate the harm that was done. Once the group hascome up with some solutions, the facilitator will write up an agreement thateveryone will sign.

The Dare

Jason, 17, visited his friends at a neighbouring school one day during lunchhour. As the lunch hour was drawing to an end his friends dared him to pullthe fire alarm before returning to his own school. "I just might," he said as hisfriends were heading to their classrooms. Jason surprised himself by pullingthe alarm before walking out of the school. He stood outside to watch. He wasa little surprised by the number of people who were filing out of the school -and he was a little nervous that someone may have seen him pull the alarm.He began heading back to his own school but he did not run, as he did notwant to appear to be suspicious. " I hope they enjoy the sunshine," he mut-tered as he glanced back towards the students and staff standing outside theschool. It wasn’t long before the rumours began to spread. The police ques-tioned Jason’s friends and they admitted to daring Jason to pull the alarm.

When a police officer visited Jason, he confessed that he had pulled the alarm.He had a couple of previous dealings with the police — such as the time whenthey dumped out his beer when he was in a park with a bunch of other kidsbut he had never been to court. Jason is in grade 11. He is not a great studentbut he is getting by. He doesn’t have a part-time job but he hopes to work asa mechanic one day.

Jason could be charged with mischief. Mischief occurred in this case whenJason wilfully obstructed, interrupted or interfered with the lawfuluse, enjoyment or operation of property by pulling the fire alarm. If heis found guilty then the maximum penalty would be up to two years impris-onment.

Things to discuss:Would a police warning be sufficient here? Why or why not?Should the police send this file to Crown counsel?Does Jason need to be taught a major lesson?Do others need to see that the offender in this case received a severe punish-ment?

Simulation: Student Role-Play

(See script at the end of this section.) If time permits you could have the stu-dents act this out or they could prepare their own script based on the infor-mation above.


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The Victim’s Point of View

Divide the class into small groups and hand out a photocopy of one of the casestudies to each group. Each group must discuss their case and determine howalternative measures could be applied to that case rather than using the for-mal court system. Each group must be prepared to explain to the whole classthe details of the case, how the victim would feel after the crime was commit-ted, and what the offender could do to right the wrong. Remind the studentsthat consequences can be created to suit their case: payment, time given incommunity service, repair or replacement of something, participation indrug/alcohol counselling or anger management programs, mandatory atten-dance in school, non-association with certain people and/or time spent helpingsomeone do things that they are no longer able to do because of the injury theysuffered as a result of the crime.

Case Study: "Linda"Linda is 13 and she has a very supportive family. Her parents have enoughmoney to buy her what she needs. However, Linda's friends are involved inshoplifting and even though Linda doesn't 'need' anything she shoplifted apair of $25 earrings from a department store to show her friends that shecould be like them. A store clerk reported her suspicious activity to the storedetective who stopped her on her way out of the store. The earrings werefound in her bag.

Case Study: "Brian"Michael and Brian, both 14, spent most of their evenings planning how theywere going to get into a concert that their parents had already said they couldnot go to. One night Brian slept over at his friend Michael's house. Thatevening Michael's mother came home early and she left her purse on thekitchen counter. When Michael was in the washroom Brian opened her purseand stole $125.00 in cash. The next morning the money was discovered to bemissing and Michael's mother phoned the police. The police visited Brian athome and his mother searched his room in front of the police. The $125.00 wasfound in one of his drawers.

Case Study: "Amy"Amy, 16, has been using drugs and alcohol for over a year. She does not attendschool regularly and she comes and goes as she pleases. She ignores her par-ents' house rules. Her parents don't know what to do as they know that drugsand alcohol are controlling Amy’s life. A neighbour, who is new to the neigh-bourhood, asked Amy if she would be willing to baby-sit one Saturday night.Amy's parents were nervous about the idea because of Amy's drug use andbecause of her unpredictable behaviour. However, Amy's parents also wantedto give her a chance to behave responsibly. While babysitting, she called afriend to come over and take away some of the neighbour's jewellery and smallelectronic items. Amy planned on selling them to a pawnshop to get money tobuy more drugs. Because of Amy's age the pawnshop owner was suspiciousand he called the police. It was obvious that these items were not Amy's andshe confessed to the police who had arrived at the pawnshop with her parents.


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Case Study: "Frank"Frank, 17, has been having trouble at school. He and his parents had beencalled in to see his high school counsellor several times. Frank was walkingthrough the parking lot when he saw his counsellor's car. He looked around tomake sure that no one was nearby. Then he took out his house key and ran italong the side of his counsellor's car scratching the car. Later that day hiscounsellor discovered the damage to his car and he called the police. Thepolice came and fingerprinted the areas above and below the scratch marksand they found many sets of matching fingerprints. When the police ques-tioned the counsellor about anyone who might be angry with him, the coun-sellor mentioned Frank’s name. Frank was brought into his counsellor’s officewith the police and he was told about the fingerprints. He admitted to doingthe damage.

Case Study: "Melissa"Melissa, 16, has been angry with her parents for weeks because they would-n't sign the forms to allow her to get a learner's license. Her parents toldMelissa that there had been too many times in the last two years when shehad shown very bad judgment. They were worried about her safety and thesafety of others if she were allowed to drive. Melissa's parents were out for theevening and Melissa convinced her friend Beth that Melissa could drive themto the convenience store to buy snacks and then to the video store to rent avideo. About four blocks from the store Melissa lost control of the car. Shecrashed into a mailbox and a bus bench. The bus bench and the mailbox weredestroyed.

Case Study: "Vinh"Vinh, 15, has been in trouble with the law several times for minor offences,mostly shoplifting and possession of drugs. A friend of his father's had agreedto give Vinh a job at a hardware store. The first month went well. Then theowner began to notice that the sales registered on the detail tape of the cashregister were not equal to the cash in the drawer. The till was often short ofmoney at the end of Vinh’s shifts - sometimes only $25 but sometimes as muchas $60. It was not normal for the store to be out more that $10 at the end of aday. The owner confronted Vinh and there was a heated argument. Vinh even-tually admitted that he had stolen the money. He shouted at the owner, "Whatdid you expect? You knew I was a bad kid!"

Case Study: "Anthony"Anthony, 15, has been in trouble for fighting at school several times but he hasnever been involved with the police. A convenience store close to his schoolwould not allow him to enter during lunch hour because there were alreadytoo many people in the store. The store had a policy of only letting in sixteenagers at a time during the lunch break to try and prevent shoplifting. Atthe door Anthony argued with the owner who spoke very little English. Theowner then refused to let Anthony in at all because he frightened her. Laterthat night Anthony returned to the store and vandalized it by breaking win-dows, ripping off plastic roofing and spray painting racial slurs on the sides ofthe store. A neighbour, who heard the noise, called the police who arrived atthe store and found Anthony there.


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Police Discretion, Crown Diversion, andCourt Options

Teachers may find that when discussing appropriate sentences for crimes stu-dents tend to be very harsh. Teachers will need to spend time discussing withstudents that society's goal is to create a safe and harmonious environmentfor all. Students will need reminders such as, "would that punishment bene-fit society in the long term?" when they suggest a very harsh punishment. Adiscussion may be needed on life in prison and how that experience can often"harden" individuals and how it might make them less able to fit back intosociety as productive, caring, and law-abiding citizens.

Depending on the circumstances of the crime and the youth's background theyoung offender may be diverted away from the formal court process. Policediversion may occur if the youth has not been in trouble with the law before.If the best interests of the youth and society can be served with a warning, adiscussion with the parents or a referral to a community program then that isthe action that the police might take. If not, the police will investigate theincident and make a report to Crown counsel.

Crown counsel may divert the young offender if it is a first offence and if theoffender shows remorse. A letter may be sent to the parents or Crown coun-sel may recommend extra-judicial measures in the community. The accusedwill be interviewed by a youth court worker who will make recommendationsto Crown counsel as to what measures should be taken, such as communitywork hours, apology to the victim, restitution, compensation or counselling forthe accused. If the young offender does not complete these conditions s/hemay then be taken to court. Any statement of guilt made by the accused inthese cases cannot be used in the court proceedings. In other cases, particu-larly for more serious or for repeat offences, going to court remains the onlyoption. Discuss with the class what makes one crime more serious thananother (where it is a repeat offence or where serious injury resulted or wasthreatened).

In this lesson students will get an opportunity to look at case snapshots anddetermine whether the case is likely to be diverted by the police, diverted bythe Crown or more likely to go to court. Ask the students to keep the abovefactors in mind when answering the questions.

Key for the following case snapshots: 1.) CD or PD 2.) C 3.) C 4.) PD5.) CD 6.) CD or PD7.) CD or PD 8.) C 9.) CD or PD 10.) C


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Police Discretion, Crown Diversion, and Court Options

For each crime below indicate whether it would likely lead to policediscretion (PD), or Crown diversion (CD), or whether it would go tocourt (C).

___ 1. Joanne, 14, breaks into a car and steals the car CD player. This isJoanne's first offence and she has never been in trouble with the lawbefore.

___ 2. Allan, 15, spray paints graffiti across a neighbour's car. It will costthe car owner $1200 to have his car repainted. This is Allan's fourthtime being involved with the law. He has been caught shoplifting orvandalizing other people's property three other times since he was 13.

___ 3. Mark, 16, hits another boy across the face with a broken beer bottle.The victim goes to hospital and undergoes surgery to repair a brokencheekbone. He receives over 30 stitches. The victim will likely requireplastic surgery in the future. Mark has been convicted of two otherviolent offences in the past.

___ 4. Angela, 12, shoplifts $45 worth of jewellery. This is Angela's firstoffence.

___ 5. John, 14, smashes the glass case of a sporting goods store and steals$500 worth of equipment from the window display. This is John's sec-ond offence. His first offence was for shoplifting.

___ 6. Erica, 17, gets caught with a small quantity of marijuana for her ownuse. She has no previous criminal record.

___ 7. Geoff, 14, breaks off the antenna of car. This is his first offence.

___ 8. Nick, 15, beats up another boy who has refused to supply him withdrugs. Nick has been caught in possession of marijuana before.

___ 9. Matthew, 13, jacks up an expensive car and steals all of its hubcapsand tires. This is his first offence.

___ 10. Sharon, 16, is involved in robbing a drug store with three other peo-ple. One of the clerks tries to escape and Sharon strikes him with abaseball bat. She hits him in the head and the clerk dies.

Name: _____________________________________ Date: _____________________


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Working with Case Studies

This activity is designed as a summary activity where students have theopportunity to pull together everything they have learned.

• Students will read case studies and determine whether police diversion,Crown diversion, or court proceedings are most likely.

• Students will also determine what alternative measures might be used orwhat the sentence would be and what conditions of probation would besuitable.

• Students would also assume the role of the victim and write a victimimpact statement to present to the class. Have them consider whether ornot restitution or compensation to the victim is possible or appropriate.

Review the key points of youth legislation as noted below with the students:

• whether the young offender has committed a serious crime

• whether the youth is a repeat offender

• the provisions for sentencing youth who have committed crimes

• the involvement of the community, parents and victims

• the treatment of youth crime in ways that fit the seriousness of the crimeand the youth's level of maturity

• diversion by the police or by Crown counsel

• alternative measures that provide for the young offender to become volun-tarily involved in compensation, restitution, community service, drug andalcohol counselling, anger management programs, curfews, not beingallowed to associate with certain people, attending school or job training.

The presentations to the class of the group’s scenario can be evaluated eitherby the teacher or by the students.


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Case Study: "Monica"Monica, 16, used to work at a trendy clothing store. She has never been in trou-ble with the law before. She had a disagreement with her boss about her workschedule. Her boss insisted that she work a shift when Monica had alreadymade plans. Monica was very angry and told her boss she'd rather quit thanwork that shift. Monica unpacked her locker at work and stormed out of thestore. That night Monica returned to the store and began to spray paint rudelanguage on the front of the store windows. A customer in a nearby restaurantcalled the police who arrived and found Monica in the middle of spray painting.

Case Study: "Bal"Bal, 17, has been in trouble with the law for minor, non-violent offences before.He has been trying to save his money so that he could buy a motorcycle. Hedreams of riding his motorcycle across Canada. He has worked at several low-paying jobs to earn some money. However, he seems to spend more than heplans for. Bal keeps getting fired, usually for being very rude to customers or forbeing unreliable about his work schedule. He realizes that he is a long way fromhis goal of being able to purchase the motorcycle. He becomes very angry andfrustrated at his situation. One night Bal uses a small baseball bat to smash inthe window of the motorcycle shop. The shop's silent alarm notifies the policeand the police arrive to find Bal hauling a bike out of the shop.

Case Study: "Liz"Liz, 14, has always been popular at school. Other students, especially the girls,seem to hang on to her every word. Renata has always been nervous around Lizbut Renata wants Liz to like her. Renata doesn't seem to have any friends at alland she would sometimes tag along with Liz's group of friends. Renata has a lispand her family doesn't have a lot of money to buy her stylish clothes. One dayLiz and her group of friends were walking home and they saw Renata. Liz said," H e y, Renata. This evening there's a party at Andrea's house. Do you want tocome?" Renata, excited by being invited, agreed to come. The girls were watch-ing for Renata's arrival. They met her at the street corner and they told her thatthey're going to walk to the store to buy snacks. On the way to the store theywalked past a small park. Liz suddenly pushed Renata off the sidewalk into thebushes. Another girl dragged Renata by the arms further into the brush. Lizbegan to kick Renata while the other girls held her down. A couple of girls leftwhen things started to get out of hand but Liz stayed. Renata was unconsciousand Liz gave her several more hard kicks, including a couple of kicks to the head.Liz piled branches on top of Renata and went back to Andrea's house. Early thenext morning, a jogger finds Renata's dead body and when the police investigatethe other girls tell on Liz.

Case Study: "David"David, 12, has been in and out of several foster homes in the last three years.His behaviour has been a problem at all of the homes. He does not attend schoolr e g u l a r l y. Many cars in David's neighbourhood have been broken into and elec-tronics and change have been stolen. Sometimes the car windows or locks werebroken. David is in the lane behind his house and a neighbour phones the policebecause of David's suspicious behaviour. The police arrive and David tries to runa w a y. The police outrun him and catch him. There is a lot of change in David'spocket and they find a small stash of stolen car electronics in the garage of hisfoster home.


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Case Study: "Michelle"Michelle, 15, used to be an average student. For the last six months hermarks at school have fallen and she is no longer attending school regularly.Michelle and another friend have been shoplifting for about six months andthey have not yet been caught. Michelle has never been involved with thepolice. This time a sales clerk is very suspicious about their nervous behav-iour and suspects that they are hiding merchandise in their bags and big jack-ets. They spend a long time in the changing room trying on clothes. The salesclerk alerts a store detective who secretly followed them until they left thestore. He found that their bags were empty but that they were wearing manylayers of stolen clothing.

Case Study: "Chris"Chris, 16, has been involved for about one year with a gang that his olderbrother is in. The gang has broken into many homes, stolen goods and soldthem. The money they get from the stolen goods is used to buy drugs andbeer. Chris convinces a younger friend to break into a house with him with-out the gang. They had just broken into the house when the owner drove intothe lane. The owner saw the back door open and he called the police on hiscell phone. The police arrived and caught Chris and his friend inside.

Case Study: "Donna"Donna, 17, has been an excellent student. Her parents don't understand herrecent behaviour since she has started seeing a lot of two new friends. Donnadoes not come home on time anymore and her study habits are falling apart.The police arrived at Donna's parents door one day with a search warrant. Itturns out that Donna and her friends had stolen credit cards from severalfriends' parents' purses and teachers' purses at school and that they hadordered merchandise from the Internet using the stolen credit card numbers.The purchases were traced back to Donna's computer.

Case Study: "Van"Van, 15, has been in and out of trouble since he was 12. He has had three con-victions before for violent offences. Van no longer attends school regularly.Van tried to buy a package of cigarettes from a convenience store but the clerkasked for identification. Van got into an argument with the clerk. After muchshouting, Van left the store without the cigarettes. He returned with a knifeand a mask and he demanded the cigarettes. The clerk pressed the silentalarm button. Van suspected that the clerk had alerted the police with thesilent alarm so Van reached across the counter and punched the clerk in theface. The clerk fell to the floor with a broken jaw. The blow to the side of hishead left him with permanent hearing loss in one ear. Van took the cigarettesand left. The clerk suspected that it was Van because of the previous argu-ment and he recognized the voice of the masked thief. The clerk gave adescription of Van to the police. The police found Van because he was caughtspeeding 15 minutes later.


Legal Qu e s t

Youth Justice Test

Choose the correct answer.

1. The Youth Criminal Justice Act only applies to:a) 11-18 year oldsb) 12-17 year oldsc) 12-16 year olds

2. The Youth Criminal Justice Act makes a cleardistinction between:a) shoplifting and mischiefb) criminal and civil lawc) first time offenders and repeat offenders

3. The Youth Criminal Justice Act states that all young offendersa) will have their names publishedb) must be held accountable for their actionsc) will have a chance at doing community service

4. Extrajudicial measures are meant to a) provide more options for consequences when youth commit crimeb) be used only for shoplifting crimesc) be used only for female young offenders

Matching5. ___ minor offence a) of a third serious violent offence could

receive an adult sentence6. ___ violent offence b) drug & alcohol counselling or anger

management program 7. ___ victim c) shoplifting a $20 item8. ___ curfew d) impact statement can be read in

youth court9. ___ rehabilitation e) punching someone in the face and

breaking their nose10. ___ youth who are convicted f) must be at home by a certain time

11. Circle ALL answers that are correct:a) possession of drugs is a property crimeb) a youth who commits murder may get an adult sentencec) shoplifting is a violent offenced) most young offenders have committed violent offencese) community service is most often used for non-violent,

non-repeat offendersf) Crown diversion means that a youth got arrested for wearing a crown

12. "Community Justice Conferencing" tries to involve three important peo-ple or groups. Who are they? _________________ & ___________________ & ______________________.

Name: _____________________________________ Date: _____________________


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Youth Justice Test

Choose the correct answer.

1. The Youth Criminal Justice Act only applies to:a) 11-18 year oldsb) 12-17 year oldsc) 12-16 year olds

2. The Youth Criminal Justice Act makes a clear distinction between:a) shoplifting and mischiefb) criminal and civil lawc) first time offenders and repeat offenders

3. The Youth Criminal Justice Act states that all young offendersa) will have their names publishedb) must be held accountable for their actionsc) will have a chance at doing community service

4. Extrajudicial measures are meant to a) provide more options for consequences when youth commit crimeb) be used only for shoplifting crimesc) be used only for female young offenders

Matching5. c minor offence a) of a third serious violent offence could

receive an adult sentence6. e violent offence b) drug & alcohol counselling or anger

management program 7. d victim c) shoplifting a $20 item8. f curfew d) impact statement can be read in

youth court9. b rehabilitation e) punching someone in the face and

breaking their nose10.a youth who are convicted f) must be at home by a certain time

11. Circle ALL answers that are correct:a) possession of drugs is a property crimeb) a youth who commits murder may get an adult sentencec) shoplifting is a violent offenced) most young offenders have committed violent offencese) community service is most often used for non-violent, non-

repeat offendersf) Crown diversion means that a youth got arrested for wearing a crown

12. "Community Justice Conferencing" tries to involve three important peopleor groups. Who are they? Offender & Victim & Community.


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Youth Criminal Justice Act

1. Contact the youth court and probation services in your community to findout what type of alternative measures are available in your community.What types of programs can a young offender be compelled to do as a partof his/her sentence? Write a short report and present it to the class.

2. Debate: The sentences young offenders receive are/are not appropriate.Pick a partner and prepare both sides of this issue. Present the debate tothe whole class.

3. Prepare a survey for your entire grade about the youth legislation.Distribute the survey and ask the students to complete it and return it toyou. Prepare a summary of the results of the survey to be presented to theclass. You may want to include questions about what they know about theconsequences of becoming involved with the law or ask if they think thepenalties are too mild or too harsh. You could also ask questions about theirattitudes about youth crime and how it could be prevented.

4. What have you learned about young people in trouble with the law? Do youthink the information will help you make choices in the future? Explainyour answer and hand in a short paragraph on the subject.

5. Look at the Youth Criminal Justice Act and discuss the following:

• is the age appropriate?• should the penalties be changed?• should the young offender ’s name be published?• do you think more family conferences should take place?• should the young offender be treated more severely if the crime is more

serious or if s/he is a repeat offender?• do you think police should be able to divert young people into community

programs?• do victims need to know more about what happened to the young offender?• do you think the juvenile record should be sealed?

Write a short report detailing your answers and present it to the class in ashort speech.

Students participate in a mock trial and meet with a sheriff.


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Community Justice Conference: The DareSimulation Script

Rely on the use of scripts to achieve the goals of the conference. The teachershould collect the scripts after the simulation so that they are used for thepurpose for which they were intended and they not readily available to stu-dents who may be participating in these conferences in real life.

Facilitators basically follow a script, but with experience they learn whatworks best for their own styles of facilitating conferences and they may mod-ify the procedures a bit. A conference facilitator could be a volunteer or apolice officer from the community trained in conferencing. This process is alsobeing used in schools with great success in some situations. This is demon-strated well in the video, Introduction to Conferencing , available through theReal Justice website http://www.realjustice.org.

This conference is based on a real case, but the names have been changed toprotect the youth's identity and some of the facts were changed to make thesimulation more expedient.

Jason Grewal, a 17-year-old who lived with his mother, a single parent, in theinterior of British Columbia, was known to police, but he did not have a crim-inal record. When Jason was questioned by the police, he immediately con-fessed and he appeared to be scared and remorseful. The police officer gaveJason an opportunity to participate in a Community Justice Conferencerather than sending the information on to Crown counsel. Jason likely wouldhave been charged with mischief if the incident had gone to court. The con-ference information is confidential and participants will not receive a criminalrecord if they choose to participate and accept the sanctions rather than gothrough the court system.

Before the conference, the conference facilitator spoke with Jason, his moth-er, the principal, the assistant principal, and the investigating officer. Thefacilitator advised them as to where and when the conference would takeplace. Jason could have anyone else attend that he thought might be sup-portive, such as his grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, friends, teachers orcoaches.

The school principal was at the conference to represent the concerns of the vic-tims, which, in this case, were the students, the staff and the members of thefire department. The principal was told that she and any other victims whoattended should think about what they might ask of Jason to repair the harmdone by his actions.

The community justice conference facilitator sets up the chairs in a circle andasks everyone to be seated around the circle. The victims and the officershould sit on either side of the facilitator and Jason should sit across fromthem.


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Script

Conference Facilitator: Welcome. As you know, my nameis_______________ and I am the facilitator for this conference. Also here todayare Constable ________________, who investigated the offence which broughtus here today; Ms. ________________, the principal of ________________ HighSchool, a victim of the offense; Mr. _________________, the assistant principalof _____________ High School, another victim of the offense; Jason Grewal, theoffender, and Mrs. Grewal, the offender's mother.

Thank you all for attending this conference. This is difficult for all ofus but your presence here will help us deal with the matter which hasbrought us together.

Today this conference will focus on an incident that happened on_______________ at ______________ High School which involved a false alarm.We are not here to decide whether Jason is a good person or a bad person. Wewill focus instead on what Jason did and how his behaviour has affectedothers.

Jason has admitted his part in the incident.

This matter may be finalized by this conference, subject to yourpositive participation and satisfactory compliance with the conferenceagreement. Do you understand that, Jason?

Today we all have an opportunity to be a part of repairing the harm thathas been done.

Jason, tell us what happened and what you were thinking about at the timeof the incident.

Jason: (Softly--sounding shy and embarrassed) I was over visiting myfriends at the ________________ School during the lunch hour. I don't go tothat school. I go to Western. It was a nice sunny day; the first we had had ina long time. When the bell went for the kids to go back to class, my friendsdared me to pull the alarm. At first I wasn't going to, but then I thought, "I'llbet all these kids would appreciate if I did pull the alarm. They could get a lit-tle fresh air."

Facilitator: What have you been thinking about since that incident?

Jason: I have been thinking that I wish I could go back to that day and dothings differently. I have been wondering what's going to happen to me.

Facilitator: Who has been affected by your actions?

Jason: (Again, softly and embarrassed) Well, certainly, the people atschool, my mother, the police officer...


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Facilitator: In what way have these people been affected?

Jason: Well, I know all the classes were disrupted. The kids were prettyexcited. The teachers had just started their lessons. I caused them somegrief. The principal and assistant principal didn't know it was a falsealarm at first. I am sure they were concerned. My mother has been veryworried and embarrassed.

Facilitator: Now let's find out from the victims the way they have beenaffected. Let's begin with you, Ms. ____________(Principal).

Principal: Well, my first concern was for the safety of the seven hundredfifty students in the school and fifty staff members. I immediately had tomake sure they were all moving out of the school in an orderly fashion. Whenthe fire alarm rang, I was in the middle of an important conference with a stu-dent and his parents. We were just getting close to wrapping up the meetingand we couldn't get back to it that day as the parents had jobs to go to. So itmeant a lot of concern and extra work. I am also here to represent the teach-ers who found the incident very disruptive. Classes had just settled in afterlunch. Some teachers were giving tests. The P.E. kids were supposed to par-ticipate in a mini tournament. Because of the time the false alarm took fromthe class period they couldn't begin the tournament that day. The students inhome economics couldn't do the cooking project they had anticipated. The jan-itors had to find where the alarm was and determine whether it was really setoff by a fire or not. School students and staff had to stay outside until wedetermined it was safe to come back in. Probably the worst inconvenience wasto the special needs kids. Many of them have problems with movement. Theylike to be independent, but when we have a potential emergency we simplyneed to take control and do what we need to do to get these students to safe-ty. Many of them were very shaken about having to be carried or wheeled outof the school by teachers and aids. Twenty minutes of approximately eighthundred people's time was wasted and many people were upset.

Facilitator: Thank you. Now let's see what the assistant principal has toadd.

Assistant Principal: Well, my job is to first find out, along with thejanitor, if the alarm is real. If it isn't, I have to get back quickly tothe fire department to tell them not to come to the school. If the firedepartment had come then they would not have been available to anyone elsewho might really have needed them. On the day of the incident, there was afire at Fletcher's Mill fifteen minutes after the alarm was pulled at our school.If I hadn't reached the fire department soon enough then this incident couldhave caused a lot more trouble than it did.

Facilitator: Constable Jacobs, how has this incident affected you?

Constable Jacobs: Well, our detachment has been understaffed for the pasttwo months. Officers have been very stressed over all the work we have thatnever seems to get finished. Currently, I am investigating a hit and run, anarson, a serious threat, and a number of break and enters. I know when I


Legal Qu e s t

get back to the office I will have more files on my desk and I also have toprepare for two court appearances this week. This incident gave me morework to do when I already have more than enough.

Facilitator: Mrs. Grewal, I expect this incident has been difficult foryou. Will you please tell us how it has affected you?

Mrs. Grewal: I felt sad and mad when I heard what had happened. My sonis too old to be doing things like this. I thought I had brought him up to bea good boy. When I heard about this, I started to think about what I haddone wrong. It hasn't been easy being a single parent. I want my son tofinish high school and get a good job. I was embarrassed that my friendsand neighbours heard that Jason had pulled the alarm. I guess rumours weregoing around the school. When I heard there had been an alarm, I wonderedwhich stupid person had done that. Then I learned from the constable that itwas Jason. I also knew that I had to tell his grandparents before they foundout from somebody else. That was the worst part.

Facilitator: Jason, now that you have heard from all of these people, do youhave anything to say to them? Let's begin with Ms. __________(Principal). Doyou have anything to say to her?

Jason: (Head down.) Sorry.

Facilitator: Jason, look at Ms. ______________ and tell her what you arethinking.

Jason: Ms. ____________, I didn't think about how many people I was caus-ing trouble for. I feel very bad about those special needs kids. I didn't eventhink of them when I pulled that alarm. I will never do anything like thisagain.

Facilitator: Now, Jason, how about the vice principal, Mr. __________. Doyou have anything to say to him?

Jason: (Looking at Mr. _____________) I am really sorry. I certainly didn'tthink about the fire department and I didn't know about the fire at themill. I am lucky you were able to let the fire department know that it was afalse alarm.

Facilitator: Do you have anything to say to the constable?

Jason: (looking at the Constable) I am sorry for all the work I causedyou. I also know that I am lucky you gave me a chance to go through theconference instead of sending my file straight to Crown counsel.

Facilitator: Jason, there's one more person in this circle to whom you owean apology, your mother.

Jason: (This time his voice is shaky) Mom, I'm so sorry.


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Facilitator: We have come a long way here in a short time, but theconference isn't quite over. I will begin with the victims to see whatelse they would like to see happen as a result of this conference. I'llbegin with the principal. Do you think anything else should happen?

P r i n c i p a l: When I came here tonight, I was really thinking that I wouldask for a lot from Jason, maybe fifty hours of work at the school, cleaning upthe schoolyard or something like that. However, now that we have met face toface and I see how difficult it was for him to come here tonight and how sorryhe is for his actions I really don't want anything more--except maybe a letterof apology that I can make available to my staff and students. It wouldn't haveto include your signature as most people don't know who pulled the alarm.

Facilitator: Jason, do you think you could write a letter of apology tostaff and students of __________ School?

Jason: (with no hesitation) Yes, I could do that.

Facilitator: Do you feel the request is fair?

Jason: Yes, it is fair.

F a c i l i t a t o r: Mr. __________(Assistant Principal), do you have any thoughts about anything else you would like to see happen as a result of this conference?

Assistant Principal: Well, when I came here, I wanted revenge. I wasangry but now I am not. I agree with the letter. It might help others to under-stand that no harm was meant and that Jason really is sorry. I also think thatJason should do some community service hours at the fire station.

Facilitator: Constable _________, is there anything else you would like tosee come from this conference?

Constable Jacobs: I like the idea of a letter of apology and the communityservice hours. I think it would be good to have a letter written to the RCMPmembers in my detachment, too. This could help them understand whatcan come from a conference like this since it's new to our community andmany members haven't participated in one. It could also help morale in thedetachment. It's good to see that some offenders are remorseful and it'sworth taking a chance on some people —especially first time offenders witha good attitude like Jason has shown here today.

Facilitator: Jason, how to you feel about doing 20 hours of community serv-ice at the fire station and also writing a letter to the RCMPdetachment?

Jason: (sounding almost relieved) I can do that.

Facilitator: All right, what we have so far is that Jason will write twoletters of apology, one to the ___________ School students and staff and one tothe members of the RCMP detachment.


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Facilitator: Mrs. Grewal do you have any suggestions about what shouldbe done?

Mrs. Grewal: I think that Jason should be grounded for two weeks.

Facilitator: Do you think that is fair, Jason?

Jason: Yes, that is fair and okay with me.

Facilitator: Does anyone else have any other suggestions? Well, let's look at some time lines. How long do you think it will take you to write the letters,Jason?

Jason: I can write them tonight.

Facilitator: Just to be sure, let's give you three days. Mrs. Grewal, can Icount on you as a supporter of Jason here today to see that those lettersare written?

Mrs Grewal: Yes. Will you give us an address for mailing the letters?

Facilitator: Yes, I will include that in the agreement we all sign here ina few minutes. We will all get a copy of the agreement. I will also include afew comments about what should be included in each letter, but, of course, theactual wording of the letter will be Jason's.

Facilitator: Jason, I am asking that you also send me copies of the letters youwrite, so I can close this file when you have fulfilled your obligations. You cansend the letters in care of the RCMP to my attention. You will also need to con-tact the fire station for the community service hours. I will need a letter fromthem saying you have completed those hours.

Facilitator: Is there anything else anyone wants to say before I closethe conference and write up the agreement? All right, thank you all for yourparticipation. This resolution wouldn't have been possible without you.

The facilitator then writes up the agreement which everyone has to sign.

•••••••••••••

The teacher then collects all the scripts from the participants. Discusswhether or not the class feels that the consequence to Jason was appropriate.Talk about what would have happened in the court system. It is important tonote that the Community Justice Conferences occur much more quickly thancourt trials. One major advantage is that the incident isn’t in the distant pastwhen the conference is held.

The class can then discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the confer-ence or if the teacher feels it is time for a writing assignment, students can beasked to put their opinions in writing.

Youth Criminal Justice Act • • Q1 114b

Legal Qu e s t

Mock Trial Regina vs. Baljinder and Mark

Aggravated Assault

Sean identifying the accused.

Sarah testifying.

Mark testifying.

vii. youth criminal justice a c t - explore the ycja · youth criminal justice act • q1 87 legal...

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