Director of State Courts Office Contact: Amanda K. Todd, Court Information Officer PO Box 1688 Madison, WI 53701-1688 E-mail: amanda.todd@courts.state.wi.us Law Day Planning Kit Activity Summary: The Director of State Courts Office began producing a Law Day Planning Kit in 1997 to help Wisconsin’s 72 courthouses celebrate Law Day. Each year since, we have recruited Law Day organizers and developed a Kit that gives materials and activities related to the theme. Then, the local organizers take over. This program recognizes the importance of developing Law Day celebrations on the local level to serve the needs of each community. At first, it was difficult to recruit local organizers; now, we get calls and e-mails from people who want to make sure they are on the list. Activity Narrative: Extent to which the activity expands public awareness of the rule of law: The Law Day Planning Kit is designed to help each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties develop its own Law Day celebration to ensure that all the people of the state have an opportunity to participate and learn. To ensure that the counties use the Kit, the Director of State Courts Office recruits Law Day planners (generally judges, clerks of court, court commissioners, and attorneys) in each county and provides each planner’s contact information in the Kit to facilitate organization on the local level. To track participation, we send out follow-up postcards asking how the county celebrated Law Day, what resources in the Kit were used, and what the planners would like to see in next year'’ Kit. While we have not yet received enough of these back to give accurate participation numbers, we did receive orders for Law Day handouts from 45 counties and we know from past experience that many counties put on programs without ordering handouts. In 2000, 56 counties reported setting up Law Day programs with help from the Kit and just 20 of those counties ordered handouts. But Law Day is, of course, more than just the numbers. The Law Day Kit provides guidelines to ensure that high-quality programs are developed. The activities are designed to reach diverse audiences, so that one county could put on, for example, essay/poster contests or a mock trial for elementary students, the Day in the Life job-shadow activity for eighth grade through high school, an information fair with free legal advice for adults, and a special reception to honor people who have made a particular contribution to the legal system, such as jurors or foster parents. Extent to which the activity highlights the theme of Celebrate Your Freedom: Protecting the Best Interests of Our Children: We focused on tailoring this year’s Kit to the theme in a number of ways. First, we recruited, for the first time ever, community partners. We focused on identifying organizations that (1) exist in every county and (2) work with families and/or children. We identified the University of Wisconsin Extension’s Family Living Program which, in a number of counties, is already involved in activities such as teen court, and the county departments of health and family services. We also contacted the tribal courts, which were happy to have an opportunity to work with the state courts on this project. In addition, and as another sign of the success of our program, we were contacted by the State Public Defender’s Office, which asked to be represented on the county planning committees. Our hope is that the partnerships that were formed for the purpose of organizing Law Day activities remain strong and help to foster other court outreach efforts. Second, we brainstormed ideas for activities that would connect with the theme. We developed a how-to section on setting up a CASA (court-appointed special advocate) program, suggested honoring foster parents with a reception, and provided talking points (courtesy of the American Bar Association) on child-related topics along with synopses of recent Wisconsin Supreme Court cases involving school violence. We also developed a section on Internet Resources that focus on children and families. Extent of outreach to communities and schools (public impact, including number of people reached by each activity and media coverage): As stated above, we do not yet have firm numbers for this year. However, the design of the program is meant to help ensure that all courts in the state—no matter how big or small—celebrate Law Day in some way. We know from past experience that some counties will simply run a contest or two while others will develop a week’s worth of activities including open houses at the courthouse, legal advice booths, mock trials, receptions, and more. The Kit provides sample press releases and gives a timeline so that even novice organizers will know how and when to alert the press to their activities. Extent and effectiveness of partnerships formed among community groups, schools, and legal organizations: The Director of State Courts Office has partnered with the State Bar on this project since it started in 1997. Lawyers and judges work together on the Law Day planning teams and, as noted above, this year’s Law Day effort included a variety of new partners. Quality, innovation, and effectiveness of approach: Our “teach them to fish” method is certainly tried-and-true, but we believe we are innovators in applying this approach to Law Day. We recruit enthusiastic participants, give them the tools they need to be successful, and get out of the way. As noted, the number of orders for materials this year was at an all-time high, which gives us a strong early indication of substantial activity. Extent to which activities have the potential to extend their impact beyond Law Day (e.g., planned follow-up activities, integration into ongoing school or community-based law-related education activities): Our hope is that the people on the planning teams—many of whom did not know one another before Law Day—will turn to one another in the future on other projects. We also believe we will find that a number of counties took advantage of the CASA how-to and unveiled a new CASA program for Law Day. 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