Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County Contact: Ruth Goziker Pollack Administrator, Training Academy, Girl Scout Leader Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County And Girl Scouts of the San Fernando Valley 150 W. Commonwealth Alhambra CA 01307 E-Mail address: rgoziker@lasc.co. la. ca.us Girl Scout Law Day Activity Summary: How do nearly 1200 people come together at a courthouse and have a great time? A creative way is to attend the Girl Scout Law Day at the Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County in Van Nuys. Over 80 professionals from all areas of the legal community came together on Saturday, May 12, 2001 to teach Girl Scouts about the court system. Judges, Attorneys, Reporters, Interpreters, Deputy Sheriffs, Legislators, and Girl Scouts joined together to offer all ages of Girl Scouts, unique, educational and fun activities. Activity Narrative: How do girls, ages 6-18 (and their parents) learn about the court system? The organizers of the Law Day event answered that question by researching programs presented by a variety of courts in California and those highlighted on the ABA’s Law Day web pages. After careful planning the following project was presented. On May 12, 2001 the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles and the Girl Scouts of the San Fernando Valley, collaborated to bring nearly 1,000 girl and adult Girl Scouts into the courthouse. Girl Scouts pre-registered for this event and by 3 weeks prior, over 1,100 had registered to attend. Due primarily to the security costs, the attendees paid $6 for the Brownie Girl Scouts and $8 for the Junior, Cadette, and Senior Girl Scouts to attend the event. In advance of the event, Girl Scouts were invited to participate in an essay contest. The theme was “Celebrate your Freedom”. The Brownies, who are the youngest of the Girl Scouts, attended sessions for conflict resolution, finger-painting, and a narcotics dog demonstration, and they toured the lock-up facility. The Junior Girl Scouts, grades 4-6 also attended a conflict resolution session. The focus of the session was to teach girl skills to resolve problems themselves. They attended finger-painting sessions, prepared in advance for mock trials and then presented the trial, viewed the court’s award winning web site, and toured the lock-up facility. They also attended a very popular career session. They met a large variety of professionals including crime scene investigators, fingerprint specialist, court reporters, interpreters, attorneys, Judges, and court managers. The Cadette Girl Scouts and Senior Girl Scouts, grades 6-12 helped the younger girls with their fingerprints. They attended a discussion on Juvenile and Traffic laws. They also attended the career sessions. In the afternoon, 2 arrests were staged. Two Girl Scouts stole CD players and ran for the elevators. The Sheriffs on the floor caught them before they could escape. The “suspects” were taken into “custody”. The Audience then went into 2 separate courtrooms where the City Attorney and Public Defenders both spoke about their role in the judicial system. Girl Scout defense and prosecution teams were formed and left the courtroom to interview their clients. The Girl Scouts remaining in the courtroom received a jury orientation, a Judge spoke about their role in the case and a Deputy described their role as well. The teams were brought back into court, and coached by their respective attorney, litigated the case. In one courtroom the defendant was acquitted, and the other convicted. During the lunch hour, the Cadette Girl Scouts and Senior Girl Scouts were able to visit a Sheriff’s helicopter. They had an opportunity to look around it, have their picture taken in it, and hear about the job of a helicopter pilot. Throughout the day, the participants took every opportunity to comment that they had never been in a courthouse before and that every aspect of the program fascinated them. They had a fun and educational experience that day. Over 80 volunteers came together to present this event. Not only did the Girl Scouts have an opportunity to interact with professionals from all area of the legal community, but the legal community has an opportunity to be energized by the Girl Scouts. The Girl Scouts were eager to learn and had to be pushed out of some of the activities. They simply were too interested in what was happening and did not want to leave. At the end of the day the Girl Scouts received many handouts. They were given t-shirts and goodies by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department and they were given a handbook on the structure of the court. The event was covered by our local Channel 7 News and received about 3 minutes of air time. It was also covered by the Daily News; a San Fernando Valley daily newspaper. This is the second time the event was offered. In 1998, the event won a Girl Scout of the USA Best Practices award. The award carried a small cash prize to the Girl Scout council and national recognition. While the program is repeatable anywhere in the country, it takes the right connections and energy to make it work effectively. A court must be willing to be an active participant in the process. The community organization must be able to organize the volunteers for the area where the legal professionals need help, such as registration, first aid, flag ceremonies, and non court program areas. Sample Programs Home | By Audience | By Location | By Sponsoring Organization