This week every member of Tampa Prep's Teen Court served on the jury for a Grand Jury case. "That has never happened before in my 28 years with Teen Court," said Bob Bradshaw, the club's sponsor.
The Thirteenth Judicial Circuit created Teen Court as a sanctioned Juvenile Diversion Program. Teen Court involves real cases of young offenders who have accepted responsibility for their actions. It is also the only juvenile court where the proceeding is considered by teens.
Because of the special nature of this week's case, "the administrator in charge wanted our experienced, sensitive, mature group to be the ones asking questions of the defendants," said Bradshaw.
Led by Reagan C. '19 and Chase R. '19, our students comported themselves with the appropriate empathy, dignity and expertise that was called for under the circumstances. Their verdict represented a fair assessment of the situation, and everyone left the county courthouse--including the defendants and their parents--wiser and satisfied that justice had been served. Mr. Bradshaw was quite proud of how well the students did.
