Minnesota Supreme Court Contact: Chuck Tombarge Communications Specialist Minnesota Supreme Court 135 Minnesota Judicial Center, 25 Constitution Avenue St Paul, MN 55155 E-mail: chuck.tombarge@courts.state.mn.us Minnesota Judicial Center Open House Activity Summary: The Minnesota Judicial Center, home of the state's Judicial Branch and appellate courts, hosted 1,500 people during its first-ever public open house. Participants took guided tours of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Law Library and other areas of the building, and had an opportunity to chat with judges and justices. Other activities included an information fair about law-related topics and court/law careers with more than 20 organizations, self guided tours of historic judicial portraits and court history, multimedia presentations about Minnesota's courthouses and the structure of the courts, and hands-on activities about fingerprinting and the trial process. Activity Narrative: The Minnesota Judicial Center Open House increased the public's understanding of Minnesota's courts and the rule of law by incorporating hands-on, multimedia and other activities that effectively reached all ages and backgrounds of people. The activities included: Guided Tours: Visitors toured judges' chambers, courtrooms and other highlights of our building. Each tour group had an opportunity to meet and ask questions of a Court of Appeals Judge or Supreme Court Justice. Information Fair: Representatives from 20 organizations, including the Attorney General's Office, state and local bar associations and the courts, provided legal-related information about law careers, legal rights and getting involved in the court process. Inside Straight: The Third Branch (Video): Visitors viewed this brief, light-hearted video about the foundations and purpose of the State Judicial Branch. The video was produced to help meet high school graduation requirements for civics and is used in schools statewide. State Law Library: Visitors explored the electronic and book resources of the library. Staff provided an orientation of the facility and gave visitors a tour of the special collections room. The Bill of Rights: Attendees learned about the Bill of Rights from this educational display. The Structure of Minnesota Courts: Court of Appeals Chief Judge Edward Toussaint presented a multimedia presentation about the court system and answered questions. The Faces of Justice: Attendees learned about the state's Chief Justices and their legal careers during this self-guided tour. First-Hand Justice: The Center for Community Legal Education involved students in hands-on activities about fingerprinting and the trial process. A Walk Through History: Visitors took a self-guided tour of several displays that described the history of the Judicial Center, how the diversity of Minnesota's court system has changed, Minnesota's first jury trial, and the birth of the state Court of Appeals. All of these activities were designed to increase the public's understanding of legal issues and the court system, and kept the Law Day theme of "Assuring Equal Justice for All" in mind. In particular, the information fair highlighted programs that give all citizens equal access to the legal process and invite diversity into the system (Legal aid Society of Minneapolis, Legal Rights Center, Hennepin County Court Self-Help Center, the Hmong and other bar associations, the Court Interpreter Program). Other information was provided about how the Judicial Branch's diversity has changed. The activities reached a broad audience of about 1,500 people. Nearly half of the participants were elementary, middle and high school students. But attendees also included legislators, senior citizens' groups, service and social clubs (i.e. Lions, Rotary, etc.), members of local minority communities, state employees and the general public. Widespread media coverage increased the event's reach. KARE-11 TV, the local NBC affiliate, broadcast live from the Judicial Center throughout its two-hour morning show. The broadcast included promotions of the event and a live interview with Supreme Court Justice Paul Anderson. In addition, the activities were promoted and covered by the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The event promoted long-standing and new relationships with schools, community groups and legal organizations. Members of these groups attended the events, and we worked closely with representatives from more than 20 legal organizations to plan for the information fair and other activities. The event also provided us an opportunity to continue outreach with and through these groups. For example, teachers, students and members of the public were introduced to our building, judges and court system and will be more apt to contact us again in the future to take advantage of ongoing public tours of the Judicial Center and other outreach events. In addition, we intend to make use of the materials that we developed (i.e. self-guided tours of Chief Justice portraits and court history) when schools and other groups visit the Judicial Center. Finally, the relationships we developed with bar associations and other legal organizations will allow us to collaborate on future outreach programs and other initiatives. Overall, the open house provided a quality, innovative and effective way to introduce the public to the legal process. We have received countless compliments from those who attended and the dozens of judges and court staff who participated. Many visitors urged us to make this an annual event. 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