The Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, United States Army Alaska Contact: Captain Jack Pritchard Legal Assistance Attorney Fort Wainwright Law Center 1060 Gaffney Road, Suite #5700 Fort Wainwright, AK 99703 E-mail: jtbp@hotmail.com U.S. Army Alaska’s Law Day Activity Summary: With a zero dollar budget, the attorneys and legal specialists at the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, United States Army Alaska, expanded the legal education of approximately 1,000 people in Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska. Our program was primarily focused on education, and we shared our knowledge and experience with every level of secondary schooling. Through mock trial skits, poster and essay contests, interactive classes, and vocational development, we helped students better understand how the law plays an important part in their lives. Activity Narrative: The Office of the Staff Judge Advocate (OSJA), U.S. Army Alaska (USARAK), sponsored poster and essay contests in elementary and middle schools respectively. Approximately twenty-five schools were involved, yielding over 70 posters and 40 essays. The poster entrants were told to present their rendition of the theme “Celebrate Your Freedom.” The essay question was as follows: “The Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution states, ‘No State shall…deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.’ How has this Amendment’s requirement for equal protection of the laws enhanced our freedom as Americans?” The posters and essays were judged by local media representatives. Six television and newspaper personalities came to our courtroom to judge the entries. The winners were invited to our Law Day Luncheon where they were honored and awarded. OSJA, USARAK performed mock trial skits in local elementary schools. The attorneys and legal specialists acted as lawyers, judges, and witnesses. The students were the jury. The skits were followed by question and answer sessions to insure the students understood what they had watched. These trials were intended to heighten students’ awareness and understanding of trial procedure, evidentiary rules, and due process. In this way, students’ realized that their freedoms were secure even in the trial process. OSJA, USARAK conducted interactive legal classes in a local middle school. Four attorneys taught five classes each (a whole day of school). The classes were designed with the Law Day theme in mind and made the students teach themselves issues relevant to their freedoms. The classes were as follows: Building a Class Constitution. Students developed issues they wanted to include in a class constitution then were divided into two groups and debated the issues. Once a conclusion was reached on each issue, it was included in the constitution. Conducting Mock Voir Dire. Student jurors were given scenarios to act during voir dire, and other student attorneys asked questions and exercised preemptive strikes and strikes for cause. Analyzing Case Studies. After students were given fact situations from landmark twentieth century cases, they analyzed the facts in relation to the law and came to decisions about the outcome of the cases. Their decisions were then compared to the decisions of the courts. Legal Jeopardy. Modeled after the game show, this answer and question game focused student teams on issues relative to them. Some of the issues were juvenile delinquency, school locker searches, sexual and racial discrimination, and mandatory attendance. OSJA, USARAK sponsored a mock trial at a local high school. The OSJA attorneys taught classes on trial procedure and evidence to the student attorneys. Then the OSJA attorneys helped the student attorney teams prepare for trial by drafting opening and closing statements, interviewing witnesses, and preparing direct and cross-examinations. The students presented their cases before Federal Magistrate Judge Thomas Fenton while the rest of the student body watched. By participating in and viewing a trial and the due process protections inherent therein, the students learned that their freedoms are protected by the judicial system. OSJA, USARAK hosted Youth Court Day in the OSJA courtroom. The local Youth Court performed a mock trial for international students brought by the rotary club. OSJA attorneys were present to answer questions about trial procedure, evidence, and general questions about Army lawyers. The students were able to see how a trial really works and the protections they would receive in the Youth Court system. OSJA, USARAK conducted vocational development with several groups of students. OSJA attorneys oriented students to the Law Center, gave general descriptions of the various attorneys’ jobs, and performed face to face interviews with the students about the legal profession. The students came away understanding both what is needed to become an attorney and how attorneys help protect their clients’ and the public’s freedoms as officers of the court. OSJA, USARAK hosted a Law Day Luncheon and invited students, teachers, school representatives, lawyers, legal specialists, and military commanders. The guest speaker focused on the importance of officers of the court in preserving freedoms. The posters from the poster contest were displayed and the winners were awarded. The essay contest winners were awarded and given an opportunity to read their essays. The mock trial winners were also awarded. Sample Programs Home | By Audience | By Location | By Sponsoring Organization