Supreme Court upholds order for 14-year-old boy to pay $2,500 restitution (2024)

The Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld a juvenile court judge's decision to order a 14-year-old Grand Island boy to pay $2,500 in restitution over his attorney's argument that he had no ability to pay it.

Friday's decision came in a Hall County case where the boy, at the age of 13, had shoved another boy and caused him to fall and break his arm.

The boy later admitted to an attempted misdemeanor assault and got a year of probation. The only issue on appeal was restitution.

He and his attorney agreed on the amount of restitution — $2,553.05 — but they disagreed about the 14-year-old boy's ability to pay it.

At a hearing in Hall County Court, the boy's mother testified that because of the family's work schedules, no one in the household would be available to drive their son, who doesn't have a driver's license, to and from a job.

She said she and her husband have five children. She works day shifts and her husband works night shifts. The oldest of the siblings also works overnight. Even if their 14-year-old got his license, she said, they didn't have a spare vehicle for him to use.

According to the Nebraska Supreme Court's decision, the boy testified that, while he had detasseled corn one summer, he didn't currently have a job and participated in wrestling and football after school.

His deputy Hall County public defender, Sidnea Brown, argued against restitution, saying "putting this family in a financial bind to be able to try and get him to and from a job would be worse than him not being able to pay restitution to the victim."

But Hall County Court Judge Arthur Wetzel disagreed, saying while he didn't want restitution to create a hardship for the boy or his family, he didn't want the victim's family to experience hardship either.

He said it may be "troublesome," but he didn't think it would be insurmountable for the boy to pay it.

"I think it’s extremely important for you to make amends for the harm that you did," Wetzel told him.

On appeal, Brown argued that employment would be a difficulty for his parents and would harm, rather than further, his reformation and rehabilitation.

"We respectfully disagree," Justice Stephanie Stacy wrote in Friday's order, upholding the lower-court decision.

She said under Nebraska law parents can be held liable for medical expenses resulting from a personal injury inflicted willfully and intentionally by their minor child.

"So paying restitution not only allows (the boy) to take direct personal responsibility for the medical expenses incurred by the victim because of his conduct, but it may also reduce his parents’ exposure for such damages," Stacy said.

She said the court saw no reason he couldn't work to pay restitution and continue to participate in extracurricular sports.

Last Legislative session, Voices for Children in Nebraska raised the issue of restitution and other court-imposed costs in juvenile cases, saying in a press release that "system-involved youth and their families suffer from the discriminatory and harmful practice of court debt."

According to the release, between 2019 and 2022, the courts imposed $760,477 in total costs on Nebraska families, including $347,223 in restitution.

State Sen. Wendy DeBoer introduced LB 1089, which specificallywould prevent court costs, probation fees, drug-testing costs and other incidental fees in the court system from being assessed against juveniles or their families for juvenile actions.

It was indefinitely postponed in April.