OUR NEIGHBORS: Youth Court jurist hands down justice to her peers

There is none of the usual high school pettiness when Ashlee Carlson passes judgment on her peers.

“When I give my speech,” Carlson said, “I know this could be the turning point of their lives. … I tell them, ‘You might think you don’t have a lot of choices right now in your life, but you can always change.’”

This sort of advice comes standard when students go in front of Carlson’s bench. As the presiding judge of Mat-Su Youth Court, she sees an opportunity to help those who have taken the first step down the wrong path.

Mat-Su Youth Court is an alternative route for juvenile defendants charged with a first misdemeanor. Charges through Youth Court don’t go on the students’ records and defendants aren’t eligible for the same fines.

Carlson started working with Youth Court when she was in eighth grade. For the first few cases after graduating from the week-long training course, she shadowed the older students who were working as prosecutors or council for the defense. She moved to the second chair behind the lead council, then worked as the first chair defense council.

A week before a case starts, Carlson said the council receives the case file with the police report and charging documents. Defense council does an intake interview with the defendant, getting his or her take on what happened as well as past history, consequences at home and other interests.

“I look at that, and then decide what I want to ask. I look for information that may be lacking in the report,” Carlson said.

The defense council lets the defendant know exactly what’s going to happen in court, then calls the day before to go over everything again.

Carlson said she has never seen a defendant plead not guilty. If one did, there would be a trial just like in any other court. But, with no contest or guilty pleas being the norm, the judge hears both sides and any mitigating or aggravating factors. The prosecution focuses on the facts of a case, while the defense council tries to paint the defendant as a whole person, Carlson said. Each side gives their recommended sentences, which are often identical, she said.

The judge takes this all into consideration, then makes a ruling. Sentences can be anything from hours of community service, to 500-word essays and apologies to the parties involved.

After working as defense council, Carlson said she switched to prosecution. This turned out to be a much easier job, she said, as most cases against defendants are solid. She said she liked the challenge of the defense and switched sides again before becoming a judge.

Judges have to be at least 16 years old and “the most confident people from the prosecution and defense,” Carlson said. For the past nine months, Carlson has been the presiding judge for Youth Court, the highest position held by a student.

Asked how she feels about handing down punishment to people no older than herself, Carlson said the seriousness with which they approach the proceedings dictates success. Even the most skeptical parents have said how impressed they are by the end, she said. Judges never rule on cases when they know the defendant, and defendants often don’t recognize her when she sees them later away from the courtroom.

“You have to know what you are doing is right,” Carlson said.

Judges need to be reserved and confident behind the bench. She said she stands up a little bit straighter when she wears the robe, and when she talks, she makes sure the defendants listen.

“The ones who are about to cry, you can give them a quick smile so they know everything is going to be OK,” Carlson said. “The ones who are slouching, you look at them sternly, and a lot of times it works.”

Now a senior at Palmer High School, Carlson will attend college in the fall. She said she is not going to major in pre-law, but she doesn’t want to rule out putting on the judge’s robe again.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.