Peer justice

Connor Entenmann's feet barely touch the floor as he sits in the jury box in Judge Michael McKeon's courtroom. He doesn't exactly look like your typical juror, but then this isn't an average courtroom.

The 12-year-old East Middle School student is taking part in an exercise called Cayuga County Youth Court, where students adjudicate their peers. In Judge McKeon's courtroom one Wednesday a month, the youths outnumber the adults. They are judge, and jury, prosecutor and public defender.

But this is no Judge Judy or Judge Mathis television courtroom situation. This is serious business, with a sentence that must be completed by the defendant or he or she risks returning to juvenile court where a real judge might not be as sympathetic as the offender's peers.