Behavior Management in a Court Room!

My research topic deals with classroom and behavior management and during my research I stumbled upon a news article in Los Angeles Times titled, "Truly a Jury of Their Peers" (Kim, LA Times, 2010). After reading the article I could not believe the story itself; I have never heard of anything like this. The news article proceeded to explain that high school students from Dorsey High School are one of "17 groups" that meet after school in a court room to act as a jury to their peers, "deciding the cases of first time juvenile offenders accused of misdemeanors, such as petty theft" (Kim, LA Times, 2010). Wow, is the first thing that came to mind while reading this description of the group, I did not know whether to think of how influential this could be in a troubled teens life and that of the jury or how disastrous this could be. I know in inner cities, revenge is a common event; however, I would hope that the experience of this would benefit both parties and as the article notes students "do better in school and are no longer in trouble" after undergoing this trial (17 year old, LA Times, 2010). This could certainly in a classroom, but I wanted to know what you all thought about this article? In addition, I can see how this can help behavior management in the classroom for both parties, do you think this is something you would support your students to become involved in if teaching at Dorsey High School? I encourage you all to read the 2 page article, it is truly something I have never heard of before. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-teen-court22-2010mar22,0,4418530.story?page=1. Article By: Los Angeles Times Writer Victoria Kim, March 22, 2010