United States District Court Contact: Lydia A. Yurtchuk United States District Court Special Projects, Clerk’s Office 312 N. Spring Street Los Angeles, CA 90012 E-mail: Lydia_yurtchuk@cacd.uscourts.gov Activity Summary: The Court’s activities consisted of a three-hour program which was presented six times throughout the week. Each program, held in a host judge’s courtroom, consisted of (1) short presentations by the judge and various Court and other Central District organizational personnel, (2) either a mock trial based on the “Jack and the Beanstalk” fairy tale, with the students performing the functions of the above-mentioned personnel or jury panel, or a private tour of the judge’s chambers, (3) presentation/K-9 demonstration by the U.S. Marshal Service, and (4) a tour of the Marshal’s control center and lock-up area. Activity Narrative: Our activities expanded public awareness of the rule of law because the program speakers (all essential in the administration of justice in the federal system) and the mock trial gave the students and teachers the opportunity to learn about the laws applicable to and to participate in a federal court proceeding. Although the federal court does not handle children/family issues as would state court, we kept with the Law Day theme by developing a program for students of various academic backgrounds. (The participants included those in an alternative high school to those in an advanced placement class). All the speakers, regardless of their audience, emphasized the importance to these young adults of staying in school and pursuing advanced education. As to the extent of outreach to the community, all the public high schools in the Los Angeles and extended area were invited. This was only the second time that the Court participated in Law Day. With over fifty clerk’s office volunteers, the Court was prepared to handle as many schools as accepted our invitation. We hope each year to increase this year’s attendance of 350 as word of our yearly Law Day observance spreads. The Court is hoping to increase its partnership among schools that attended by inviting those schools’ teachers to a Teacher’s Institute that the Court will be holding (for the second time in as many years) in October 2001. Several of the teachers that brought their students to Law Day learned about it through attendance at least year’s Institute. The quality and innovation of the programs was creatively done. Besides district (presidential appointees) and magistrate judges volunteering as host judges, speakers included Central District personnel (courtroom clerks, interpreters, pretrial and probation officers, court reporters and court security officers) as well as Assistant United States Attorneys and Federal Public Defenders, and United States Marshals. A Court human resources specialist spoke about summer and future job opportunities. For some classes, a lecture on the description of the courtroom was presented (i.e., court reporter area, jury box, juror room, witness seating, judge’s bench). For other classes, a “Jack and the Beanstalk” mock trial was conducted with the students performing the functions of all the court personnel under the latter’s guidance; this even included the position of the judge. Some of the students acted as witnesses, others as members of the jury, and one student was chosen to portray the accused, the Giant. When it cam time for deliberations, the “jurors” were escorted to the actual jury room. And when the “Giant” was pronounced guilty, he was taken off in shackles. (One class was even invited to tour the private chambers/judicial staff area of its host judge, and as federal courthouses are very high security buildings, this invitation was a rare opportunity). All of the classes were given a presentation by the Marshals, which included a demonstration by a member of the K-9 unit (bomb detection) and his handler, as well as the students “modeling” gear (gas mask, helmet, vest, handcuffs, waist cuffs, and shackles). The program concluded with a tour of the control area (building security) and lock-up area. The pictures and comments already received from some of the schools speak for themselves. The Court’s Law Day 2001 activities have the potential to spread their impact with this initial exposure to the federal court. Not only will the program be held next year (with adaptations to the Law Day 2002 theme), and not only will the Court continue its Teacher’s Institute, but arrangements are being made, per some of the teachers’ requests, to have them and their students return during the year to observe a trial. Sample Programs Home | By Audience | By Location | By Sponsoring Organization