Teen court: Red brick building with closeup of sign in silver letters reading "Family and Youth Court""

Opinion: Teen-run courts dispense justice, launch legal careers

For more than 40 years, teen courts across the 50 states have proven their success at letting high school students — serving as lawyers, jurors, bailiffs and judges — determine the real-life sentences of alleged juvenile offenders who are their peers.

Such programs can double as a pre-law apprenticeships for high school students, while also aiming to divert juvenile offenders from incarceration.