GETTING CHANCE TO ERASE MISTAKE JUVENILE OFFENDERS TO CLEAN UP GRAFFITI IN NEWHALL.Byline: JUDY O'ROURKE Staff Writer NEWHALL -- The community dubbed dub 1 tr.v. dubbed, dub·bing, dubs 1. To tap lightly on the shoulder by way of conferring knighthood. 2. To honor with a new title or description. 3. one of America's top 100 for young people is giving troubled youths a chance to make amends AMENDS. A satisfaction, given by a wrong doer to the party injured for a wrong committed. 1 Lilly's Reg. 81. 2. By statute 24 Geo. II. c. 44, in England, and by similar statutes in some of the United States, justices of the peace, upon being notified of an and start over. On Saturday, participants in a city-funded program for juvenile offenders will be erasing graffiti in Newhall. "These are not bad kids, these are kids who've made a mistake," said Hope Horner, the city's community services administrator. "This is really an opportunity the city gives them to have a second chance and learn from their mistakes." In response to a sharp rise in juvenile crime, lenient le·ni·ent adj. Inclined not to be harsh or strict; merciful, generous, or indulgent: lenient parents; lenient rules. sentencing and an alarming recidivism recidivism: see criminology. rate, the city established the diversion program A diversion program in the criminal justice system is a program run by a district attorney's office designed to enable offenders of criminal law (usually minor offenses) to avoid criminal charges [1][2]. in 2006 to provide an alternative to jail time. It's open to nonviolent first-time offenders. The program will operate each Saturday through June. Before they pick up cleaning tools or trash from the gutter, the youths were given tools for rethinking their behavior. "The judge guides them through the thinking process of why they made the decision they made, so next time they can make a different decision -- the right decision," Horner said. "Helping them see the consequences of their decision -- how it affects them, how it affects their family, how it affects the community." The cases are heard by the Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, Community Court, which is adjudicated by volunteer commissioners and modeled after the successful peer-managed Teen Court. It deals with misdemeanor offenses or infractions, such as speeding tickets Ask a Lawyer Question Country: United States of America State: Ohio I was traveling on a two lane street with an officer driving toward me in the opposite direction. , shoplifting Ask a Lawyer Question Country: United States of America State: Florida caught shoplifting at sears 12/05/05, first time, 20yearsold, have no criminal record. , petty theft or first-time graffiti tagging, if the damage is less than $400, the threshold for felony vandalism. Forty participants have logged a combined average of 27 hours of community service each since the program began in October. Sheriff's Detective Dan Finn, who created the diversion program, said if offers a more informal judicial process than the court system, and offenders walk away with no conviction on their record. "The objective is to take first-time offenders and change their behavior so they're not repeat offenders," said Finn, who's on the COBRA unit that investigates youth crime. Court and class fees help offset the city's cost to run the program, which is budgeted at $25,000 a year. Fines are paid to the city, and community service hours are performed here. More than 30 community courts hear cases nationwide. For information, contact Horner at (661) 286-4168. judy.orourke@dailynews.com (661) 257-5255 |
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