For Cumberland County Assistant District Attorney Christine Thibeault '91, prosecution leads to public safety and rehabilitation

Story and photo by Marc Glass (Spring 2007 issue)

Christine Thibeault ’91, assistant district attorney and division chief of the Cumberland County Juvenile Justice Division, believes prosecution of juvenile offenses means more than just making sure time is done for the crime.

According to Thibeault, if juvenile justice is to yield greater public safety, meaningful restitution and lower recidivism, then the long arm of the law must reach into the lives of young offenders and extend a guiding hand.

“I focus on the roots of criminal behavior and the needs of the juvenile, then work with others to implement intervention strategies that hopefully will put an end to the criminal behavior,” Thibeault says. “It’s as much about the kid as the crime.”

A bold statement, especially if you consider from whence she came. Thibeault graduated from the University of Maine School of Law in 1995 and began prosecuting juvenile offenders in Cumberland County just as the nation was gripped by national news stories about the rise of a super-predator class of juvenile offenders. And urban violence spawned its own soundtrack in “gangster” rap music.

“In the late ’90s, the national sentiment was that the juvenile justice system was failing. People said, ‘Lock them up, keep us safe,’” Thibeault says. “What that model fails to do is build competence in juveniles so they can return to the community as law-abiding adults.”

As the vast majority of her offenders struggle with family conflict, substance abuse, mental health issues and educational deficits, Thibeault takes a holistic view of the offender to reduce recidivism. She orders and pores over psychological and psychiatric assessments. She meets with parents, the offender, attorneys, mental health service providers, case managers and educators to learn about the offender’s needs. And the needs form an integral part of an intervention plan that keeps the offender in some form of an educational program, requires the offender to make reparations and ensures public safety.

“We tend to think of the victim as an individual, but in many cases the community as a whole is a victim when the offender’s actions incite fear,” she says. “I see myself as a public servant. Part of my job is to create a safer community. I’m accountable to the public, and I have to assure the public that what I’m doing leads to public safety.”

In addition to supervising a team of assistant district attorneys who prosecute juvenile offenders, Thibeault has worked to improve the juvenile justice system statewide. Thibeault says that prior to 1999, delays in the Maine juvenile justice system meant that six to nine months could separate the date of an offender’s arrest from his or her actual court appearance. Modeling a practice established by police in neighboring York County, Thibeault drafted state legislation authorizing police to deliver a court summons to the offender at the point of arrest. Since her draft legislation became law, the time between the date of offense and court appearance has been reduced to typically six weeks.

“In terms of behavior modification, the power of immediacy for the consequence and the strength of the reinforcement is lost if offenders have to wait six months,” she says.

Now she is working with a juvenile defense attorney, a juvenile court judge and representatives of the State Forensic Services, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Corrections to develop legislation that creates legal mechanisms for responding to juvenile offenders who are deemed not criminally responsible by reason of insanity.

“There’s a huge gap right now in the system for these offenders,” Thibeault says. “They cannot be incarcerated, and they cannot be placed in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services. Basically, there’s no jurisdiction. We can only release them to their parents, who we hope will take responsible steps.”

Thibeault, a first-generation college student, worked as an administrative assistant to a Waterville-based oral surgeon for five years before majoring in psychology at UMF. She says what she learned at UMF is as, if not more, important than what she learned in law school for prosecuting juvenile offenders and coordinating interventions that rehabilitate.

“To be successful in juvenile justice, you have to understand family systems and research about what works to change criminal behavior. My background at UMF provided a huge advantage with that,” she says. “How I feel about my world is a function of my incredibly supportive, loving family. How I think about the world, how I process life is a result of my experiences at UMF.”