June 2019 Bar Bulletin
By Judge Michael Finkle
and Bouke Spoelstra
Legendary basketball coach John Wooden was nicknamed the “Wizard of Westwood” for leading UCLA to 10 NCAA championships in 12 years. Revered by former players — such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — as an even greater teacher and mentor, Coach Wooden once noted, “Young people need models, not critics.”
That philosophy underlies the new Redmond Youth Court, launched in April by King County District Court and a group of local high school students from multiple schools, with cooperation from the Redmond Police Department and the Redmond city prosecutor.
Redmond Youth Court offers 16- and 17-year-olds, who have...