After a ten-year hiatus, New Iberia's teen court is back. Different teens will oversee cases among youth with misdemeanor charges.
School board members Raymond Lewis and Tyra Mcwohorter are overseeing the program. McWhorter is hoping the program will ignite change among kids in the community.
"It was needed the kids are getting in trouble and there was nothing, no program in there that can guide them to do right. They would get in trouble go to court get on probation. But here they come to court and they're judged by their peers they can go in program and mentoring and get a second chance…"
Lewis says because of the tragic loss of his son, he wanted to make a change for teens in New Iberia. He believes having youth in these positions would make the process more relatable.
"Their peers make decisions on how their sit-up is going to be handled, which is a good thing. It's not me and adult is through the lens of their peers."
McWhorter said the most important reason for this program is to make sure the kids can learn from their mistakes.
"One thing we have we have kids from Delcambre, Jeanerette , Loureauville , New Iberia. So, it's an overlap they might not know them, but they understand them. So, in this court they will be able to be judged they're going to get a sentence and they are going to learn a lesson."
