The Review Magazine Summer 2025

HOLLAND pop. 34,378

By Emily Landau Since 1991, the City of Holland has run an innovative youth justice initiative, the Holland Teen Court (HTC). Inspired by similar programs in Texas, a local task force was formed in 1989 to explore the idea. After months of deliberation, the Holland City Council approved a resolution establishing a Teen Court Advisory Board, made up of task force members and student representatives from Holland schools. "We think it’s important for young people to get involved in the process,” said Esther Fifelski, Director of Holland’s Human Relations Department, which administers the program. Rather than putting first-time juvenile offenders into the traditional court system, HTC gives them a chance to explain their actions to a group of people their own age. “The purpose of the jury is not to find them guilty or not guilty,” says Vern Helder, Magistrate of the 58th District Court. “It’s only to impose the appropriate sentence for the offense. As the law says, you get to be judged by a jury of your peers. That’s the thing that I really like about Teen Court: It truly is a jury of their peers." The peer jury is composed of about 15 students from Holland High School. They are part of a yearlong advisory class taught by Police Liaison Officer Nicole Hamberg. “We go over in detail the eligible offenses, the rules, what is expected of the jurors,” says Hamberg. “They’re sworn to confidence. They aren’t to talk with their fellow students or [discuss] details with their families. That’s a huge part of it that we make clear.” A Jury of Their Peers

“ A lot of these students have an interest in becoming an attorney, having some sort of career in political science. ”

Holland Teen Court students Back row: Grace Dattadeen Front row (left to right): Giselle Torres, Lydia Brown, Jackson Voss

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| Summer 2025