Essex Vicinage of the New Jersey Superior Court Contact: Sigfredo Carrion Assistant Trial Court Administrator Essex Vicinage of the New Jersey Superior Court 50 West Market Street, Room 514 NCB, Newark, NJ 07102 Activity Summary: Law Day 97 in Essex County consisted of four (4) activities: 45 Judges (42 Superior Court & 3 Municipal Court) presiding over Mock Trial presentations at Middle and High schools throughout the county. The average audience consisted of 63 students. This program included a partnership with the Essex County Bar Association, which provided 80 volunteer lawyers to play the roles of Prosecutor and Defense Counsel. Through the Bar Association, lawyers from the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Essex-Newark Legal Services, Public Defender's Office and many private law firms participated. Evaluations from schools, students, judges and lawyers have been overwhelmingly positive. In addition, a noonday event was held at Essex County College at which 600 students attended. This event consisted of akeynote speech by a student orator entitled "Reflections of Freedom," dramatization by students from two (2) area high schools, and a music selection by the Court House Choir. The Assignment Judge, the Criminal Presiding Judge and the College President greeted the students. The Drama presentation was the centerpiece of this event because it was the debut performance of two (2) Drama Troupes which we founded as a result of Law Day 96. Their purpose is to perform at local middle and elementary schools with the objective of opposing prejudice intolerance, and injustice, as well as teaching about the Judicial System. Finally, a poster contest was held and received 35 entries that were displayed in the court complex during the first week in May. The overall budget consisted of $2,850.00 provided by a grant from the IOLTA fund of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation. Activity Narrative: The four (4) events consisting of the Mock Trial Program, the noonday event, the development of two (2) High School Drama Troupes and the poster contest reached approximately 3,457 students and teachers. All of these events emphasized the central role of Jurors as well as the roles of Judges, Prosecutor and Defense Attorneys. These roles are key to understanding how the Rule of Law is exercised and by whom. In particular the dramatizations depicted how popular prejudices interfere with the Rule of Law and can subvert justice. The Mock Trials demonstrated how the people decided matters of guilt or innocence, and that this responsibility is a key element of freedom. Freedom can only be enjoyed and maintained when the responsibility that goes with it is shouldered with integrity. The noonday event featured a student key note speaker whose speech was entitled "Reflections of Freedom" and traced how freedom has been won and how it must be enhanced and passed on. During the development of the skits, the Drama Troupe explored a great deal about what freedom is in both the personal and societal context. They visited the courts, attended court proceedings and visited the juvenile and adult holding facilities in the court complex. They dramatized the conflict between freedom in a purely personal sense and freedom within a society of laws where a balance must be struck between the needs of the individual and those of the society as a whole. Law Day consisted of a partnership between the Bar, the Bench, the schools and Essex County College, all coordinated by the Vicinage Advisory Committee on Minority Concerns and implemented by the Court Administrative Staff. The Mock Trial materials were prepared by a Bench Bar Subcommittee. The Mock Trials were carried out by a partnership of one Judge and two members of the Bar per school. The schools prepared the students ahead of time and adjusted their schedule to hold the event. This partnership was on an unprecedented scale and the results were wonderful. The noonday event likewise required cooperation, planning and ideas from the schools and the various sectors represented on the advisory committee which included the Bench, the Bar (in all its variations), educators and community activists. The Mock Trial outreach program was innovative in that the Assignment Judge required all Superior Court Judges, unless they were scheduled for leave, to participate in the Mock Trial Program. As a result, forty-five (45) schools were visited and 2,800 students participated. Additionally, this massive effort was carried out in a partnership with the Essex County Bar Association, which mobilized 80 attorneys, from every type of legal practice, to accompany and assist the judges with their presentations. This program reached both urban and suburban schools. The innovative elements of the noonday event were that the keynote address was delivered by a student and that the High School Drama Troupes was an outgrowth of last year's Law Day. The Judges' outreach program will continue next year and is seen as a way to involve the Judges in the community in a teaching and learning role. The Drama Troupes are intended to be ongoing Troupes rather than a one event effort. The objective is to have them perform in local elementary and middle schools. Next year, the noonday event will focus on Jurors and other adults. Youth Education Tips | Back to Mock Trials Lawyers & Judges | Tips on Volunteering Home