CROWN POINT | A 17-year-old girl brought her baby to a late night party, smoking pot and hanging out with friends.

Shortly after the party, she turned up at the home of the child's grandmother to pawn off the baby because it was getting on her nerves. The teen had left home when her mother told her to follow the rules or get out.

The girl's story, which unfolded in Lake Juvenile Court, will be featured in a series of MSNBC special reports on juvenile justice expected to air later this year.

"Our hope is that people will understand where crime starts," said Karen Grau, president and executive producer of Calamari Productions, which shot the series. "Rather than just focusing on the stress between kids and parents, like in MTV's "Juvies," this is completely different. It's kids showing us a glimpse of why they got in trouble and what their mind-set was."

MSNBC will air six one-hour episodes, with each episode featuring three juveniles as they navigate through the Lake Juvenile Court system in Crown Point. No air date has been set.

Grau was granted access to film in the juvenile courtroom by the Indiana Supreme Court.

The reports will be more in-depth than MTV's "Juvies" series, which also featured Lake County juveniles in the court system, Grau said.

MTV's series featured first-time offenders and runaways, while the special reports focuses on juveniles who are charged with more serious crimes or have been involved with the court system in the past.

Lake Juvenile Court Judge Mary Beth Bonaventura said the series also can be used as a learning tool for new judges and will be available to schools and churches to show teens.

"The whole basis is to educate the public and let them see the consequences of their choices," she said. "If one round was good, two will be better."

Bonaventura said some of the cases struck her emotionally -- the teenager on the street with a baby, a boy who spent his last three birthdays in jail and brothers struggling to break away from their parents' criminal pasts.

Though the judge said filming was stressful, she is proud Lake County was chosen.

"It gives me some personal satisfaction and joy," Bonaventura said. "They could've gone to Marion County but chose to come back to Lake County, which means maybe we did something right. We're setting the bar for the juvenile court system and that makes me happy."

Bonaventura and Grau said they hope the special reports will spur change.