This morning my husband traveled down to Edinburgh to pick up our son and take him to court. When they got to the courthouse, our lawyer was there trying to get to the prosecutor before he went into court. No luck. Then, they find out that they are not even on the docket for the day and that they can not get him on the docket....too full. Court started at 9am. At 9:30am, they see the judge walk out of the court room with his cup of coffee, leaving for the day. "Full day", our lawyer says, "don't overwork yourself!"
They find out that our son is to turn himself in at the jail. So, they head to the jail and find out that the Sheriff there is not a big fan of this judge. He could not figure out why the judge put out a warrant for him before the two days we were given to have him in court. When paperwork was found, they read that the warrant was actually issued on Tuesday and, according to what the judge wrote, if our son didn't turn himself in by this morning, my husband would have had a warrant issued.
So, after processing our son and having the warrant rescinded, they are able to schedule court for Tuesday morning. Our lawyer was able to talk to the prosecutor and find out that they are willing to accept the program as part of his punishment. They were going to recommend 21 days house arrest and 4 months probation, but will change that to spending his probation time in the program. If, for any reason, he leaves the program, he will have to serve his house arrest and probation. Okay, fine. One problem. Is the program going to allow him to leave again for another day in court?
My husband called the director of the Hoosier Youth Challenge Academy. This time he had to ask for another day away for court. The director was happy to allow it for our son. He said that our son has been doing very well, and knows that he wants to be there and wants to make something of his life.
I can not say enough about this program. I hope that someday every state is able to have this program in place for their at-risk youth. I hope someday that this can be something that the courts can recommend as a rehabilitation program for our young boys and girls that want to get on the right path and out of the system.
I was able to go with my husband this afternoon to return our son to the program. On the way there, I asked him about some of the things they have to do. He said that they are up every morning at 6am. They are in bed by 10:30pm. They are only allowed to drink water from their canteens. They eat what they are given. They do not complain about anything, or they are made to do push-ups until they agree that what they have been asked to do is the best thing for them. They have already taken a CPR class. They wear military fatigues and boots while they are doing their physical training. He knows the proper way to do a push up. He knows the proper way to dress. He knows that what we have done for him is what he needs to do to become the man he wants to become. He thanked us today and that was the greatest thing I have heard in a long time!
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