Explore the Juvenile Justice Project

This is an account of one of the law students who took our mediation class during the first 2004 semester. She was a third-year student on the verge of graduating and had yet to discover her purpose in attending law school. Along with the instruction, she had the opportunity to observe and participate in several mediations throughout the semester. The following is a direct quote from her journal.

"I came to law school on a whim. I moved to the rural south from the urban north on a whim, and as much as it has been a good experience, I had begun to think my career was just going to be a way to earn a living. It was not until this semester and this class that the Divine Purpose for my being here was shown to me. I was put here, in the middle of nowhere, at this particular place in time, to be a part of this program and take it with me back home."
Stacy Price

The Juvenile Justice Project (JJP) is a collaborative effort of the N.C. Governor's Crime Commission, The Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, and the Eleventh Judicial District (comprised of Harnett, Johnston, and Lee Counties). The program receives referrals from the juvenile justice system and the court system for juveniles who have been accused of criminal activity.

The goals of the project are to:

• Give juveniles the opportunity to take responsibility for and become accountable for their actions.
• Give victims the opportunity to learn about and be intimately involved in the outcome of their case.
• Give all parties the opportunity to craft an agreement that will address and resolve the harm which has been caused by criminal activity.
• Involve law students in the process of victim/offender mediation as active mediators.

The process of victim offender mediation is carried out as follows:

• Referrals are received by the JJP from a juvenile intake counselor, district attorney, or juvenile judge.
• JJP contacts both offender and victim to schedule initial meetings with the parties.
• JJP meets with offender and parents or guardians.
• If appropriate, JJP schedules and meets at a later date with the victim.
• If appropriate, JJP schedules and meets with both parties in a face-to-face mediation.
• If the agreement is reached, JJP reduces the agreement to writing and reports results of the mediation to juvenile justice.
• Juvenile justice monitors the agreement to ensure fulfillment by the juvenile.
• Upon completion of the agreement, criminal charges are usually dismissed against the juvenile.

Throughout this mediation process, law students are involved as active co-mediators with trained law school faculty. This clinical experience provides valuable experience to law students in learning ways to approach and resolve problems, which occur from criminal activity.

The coming two years will see the project expand into the three county school systems. This is significant, not only because the program works well to resolve issues between victims and offenders, but because the schools will have the opportunity to defer cases to mediation, which they would normally send directly to the courts.

Jon Powell
Juvenile Justice Project Administrator
Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law
Campbell University
PO Box 158
Buies Creek, NC 27506
910-893-1805
JPowell@law.campbell.edu