The Nome Youth Court gives first-time juvenile offenders the opportunity to keep their crime off the record by agreeing to go on trial before their peers. The Nome Youth Court is a restorative justice system approach in which sentences focus on rehabilitation and on repairing the damage to the community. These sentences promote responsibility much more than solely serving punishment. The recidivism rate for those who complete their sentence is much lower than those who are at the mercy of the traditional court system.
Website by Nome Community Center, 2018.