Every child who walks into Judge Mary Ann Turner's courtroom gazes upon a large painting of a waterfall flowing between thickets of trees painted in bright hues of blue, yellow and green. The landscape was created by kids and stands as a symbol of hope and rebirth in her courtroom where those as young as 10 and as old as 16 answer for their misdemeanor crimes.
"It's kind of the approach you have with juvenile kids in general. There are mistakes that are made. Everything is fixable at this point you hope, and it's just a matter of regrouping, refocusing and taking one step at a time," said Turner, who has been on the bench for 13 years. "Every morning, I get up and I know the challenges that I'm going to have in the courtroom every day."
[For more of this story, written by Nora Olabi, go to http://www.chron.com/neighborh...d-chance-6669861.php]
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