Teen Court is in session

Imagine standing before a jury, heart pounding, as you prepare to defend a peer – this is an electric feeling for Lamar senior Vanna Truong. 

Vanna participates in Teen Court, a monthly program hosted by the Houston Municipal Court Department. Teen Court is designed to give students interested in law the opportunity to take on real cases and participate in a mock court to provide them with experience. These high school students are responsible for deciding what happens to these defendants. Vanna works on real cases for teens, and juvenile cases such as theft and property destruction, and is assigned a role. Vanna has been defense, prosecution, and jury in the court, and learned what it means to participate in each role. 

Vanna enjoys learning from the people around her and getting to know others that share her interests. “What I like about Teen Court the most is actually the social aspect of it. All of these kids from around Houston gather in one place and are all interested in law.” The program has also helped her learn about different law professions and helped her contemplate a future in law. 

Her favorite role, defense, lets her lay down her foundation for her case, paint a picture of the story, and sway the court. “Victimizing a defendant, for me, is easier than antagonizing them.” Most of the time, the facts of a case don’t tell the entire story, especially one of the teen defendants. “You learn there’s more to it than what the crime says on paper,” Vanna says. Creating an argument for the defendant is something Vanna enjoys, allowing her to get up on the stand and argue a side.

Vanna feels the passion of the court when she gets up on the stand and gets ready to defend. “What really excites me about Teen Court is the feeling of being in action,” says Vanna. “You think it’ll be easy at first, but when you actually get up on that stand, it's super nerve-wracking. It's nerves and excitement.” It’s an experience that has given Vanna not just a taste of the legal world, but a passion that will last a lifetime.

Editor’s note: Nithya originally wrote this piece for our School Buzz blog. For more, check out School Buzz.

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