Justice Resource Center engages student citizenship in diverse settings

By Debra Lesser
The Justice Resource Center offers programs that educate the school- age population on the law, the legal process and the fundamental values upon which they are based. All programs are geared to a diverse population enabling all children to benefit from the Center’s programs.

To accomplish this mission, the Justice Resource Center has mobilized the legal community to support law related education programs on the local, state, national and international level.

Serving as the country’s model urban initiative for civic and law-related education, programs at the Center enable students to display an in-depth understanding of the legal process, demonstrating a broader understanding of the law and a heightened respect for our United States legal system, leading them to become active citizens. The Center’s programs have demonstrated how the partnership between teachers and lawyers, working together in the educational process, results in a school- aged population ready to enter the world outside of their classrooms. The Center administers over 35 programs to enhance law and civic education through funds from the public and private sectors.

The MENTOR law firm/school program pairs law firms, corporate legal departments and government agencies with a school. During the past year 55 pairs exist in York City, 300 exist nationally; there is one pair in Russia and three pairs will start this year in Venezuela. Since MENTOR’S inception, the Federal Bar Council has participated in sponsoring the New York City and national expansion. The Center of Civic Education has supported the new international initiative, as another component of civic education in those countries.

The four basic MENTOR activities are:
1) A lawyer visit to the school, serving as a guest lecturer for their designated class.
2) A school visit is made to the law firm or agency, enabling students to be exposed to various careers. Lunch with the partners or lead agency personnel helps to “demystify” the legal profession.
3) A visit by their students to court is arranged and led by their MENTOR lawyers.
4) An elective activity is planned and held. In New York City, the elective activity is the MENTOR Moot Court Competition, co-sponsored by Fordham University Law school. This year, 46 New York City teams coached by their MENTOR law firms competed in multiple-elimination rounds, arguing a difficult appellate case.

The MENTOR program was enhanced this year through the Federal Bar Council’s Public Service Committee’s Federal Courts Visit program. Our MENTOR classes, shepherded by lawyers from their paired MENTOR law firm, were afforded the opportunity to meet a federal judge, tour the federal courts and observe a proceeding.

Our Russian MENTOR Program continues with great success. St. Petersburg Law School serves as the local coordinator, pairing high schools with law firms. This year, St. Petersburg Law School implemented the first Moot Court competition. Students are now clamoring to be a part of MENTOR and want to participate in an international Moot Court. Also this year, through the funding provided by the US Department of Education to Russell Sage College, we are involved with a new CIVIC Mosaic program enabling teachers and students from both countries to study a “comparative model for civics.” Through this program, New York City teachers visited St. Petersburg. They in turn had teachers from the Russian city visit New York City, enabling the visitors and their hosts to study how democracy and the comparative model can be taught in both Russian and American schools.

The Center for Civic Education, through CIVITAS International, paired the Justice Resource Center with Venezuela. Through this program, we are exchanging ideas and implementing programs that promote democracy. United States students and teachers are benefiting from the materials developed, and are gaining a better understanding of the complexities of an emerging democracy. Programs in Venezuela are far reaching. Within the last 2 years, they have reached thousands of students with Project Citizen. As part of this program, a new component “Justice in the Schools” is currently being adapted for implementation based upon the Justice Resource Center’s programs. This includes MENTOR. To date, DeSola and Pate law firm is spearheading MENTOR in Caracas. Other Latin American countries are observing how this model can be adapted in their countries.

The Justice Resource Center administers the Center of Civic Education’s nationally acclaimed “We The People: Bill of Rights and the Constitution” program on the local level. Our program is referred to as this country’s “model urban initiative”. Students study issues related to our constitutional democracy, enabling students to develop civic competence and responsibility. Students are afforded the opportunity to participate in a Mock Congressional hearing, debating complex constitutional issues before a panel of lawyers. This year, Stuyvesant HS emerged as the winner. New York City provided professional development for teachers of English language learners and will offer a multi-lingual competition for our high school English language learners next year. Past participants in the multi-lingual “We the People” competition included students speaking Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian, Haitian Creole, Urdu and Spanish. Participation has increased student’s knowledge of the US Constitution and increased their proficiency with the English language. Through

the generous support of our sponsors, the Weil, Gotshal and Manges, LLP law firm and the Axe-Houghton Foundation, we were able to send the four top winning schools to compete in the New York State competition. Edward R. Murrow HS placed second, Stuyvesant HS placed third and James Madison HS and Clara Barton HS placed within the top six.

The Justice Resource Center took on several new initiatives that are continuing with great momentum and success. The Law Enforcement Academies, sponsored by the New York City Council, are in full force at Franklin K. Lane HS, HS for Graphic Communication Arts, Evander Childs HS and Curtis HS, exposing students to law enforcement careers and an innovative legal studies curriculum especially designed for these youngsters. John Jay College of Criminal Justice has partnered with the Justice Resource Center, spearheading the professional development of our teachers in all disciplines.

The School Violence Prevention Program, a pilot project started six years ago, continues to impact significantly on our elementary school (fifth grade) students. Civics, as a tool for violence prevention, is one of the closely watched initiatives at the Center for Civic Education and the US Department of Education.

The Justice Resource Center implemented the Center for Civic Education’s Project Citizen program. This program enabled our students to select and study a public policy issue, define the problem, review alternative policies, create their own class policy and develop an action plan. New York City schools entered 75 portfolios at the local Justice Resource Center competition. PS122 had the winning New York City portfolio, which was then sent to the New York State competition, whereby they placed first. This portfolio was then sent to the national competition, whereby, they placed in the highest category.

Mock Trial, sponsored by the New York State Bar Association, is administered locally at the Justice Resource Center. In 2005, a total of 99 teams participated. Coordination of the Mock Trial competition includes offering professional development for teachers, assigning a coach to every team, overseeing every team presenting their oral arguments more than once at a courthouse and recruiting lawyers to serve as judges. All these activities present logistical challenges, however, through the wonderful legal partnerships throughout New York City, the forces mobilized behind this great program. The Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens District Attorneys’ Offices and the US Attorney’s Office from the Eastern District were instrumental to the success of the program. Unfortunately, only one team can win. This year, James Madison HS, Brooklyn, NY won the New York City tournament. The Honorable Kenneth Karas presided over the final round. At the New York State competition, James Madison HS placed in the top five. The New York Times Newspaper in Education Division sponsored a student party, hosted by The U.S. Federal Courthouse, for all the students that participated in the Mock Trial program.

The Justice Resource Center, working within the New York City Department of Education’s Teaching and Learning Division and Career and Technical Education Unit, enabled the Center to receive the support to forge ahead with programs throughout the New York City Public Schools. Partnering with other agencies has helped to promulgate the mission of the Justice Resource Center.
These partnerships are providing an enhancement of law-related education for the students of the New York City public schools. The partnerships include, but are not limited to:
• a jury program with the Office of Court Administration enabling our students to participate in a Town Hall meeting
• a law day with the National Hispanic Bar
• a Model Congress at Midwood HS sponsored by Brooklyn College, enabled students to simulate a Congressional session
• an Individual Mentor program with the New York City Bar and the Federal Bar Council’s Public Service Committee
• a lawyer in the classroom speakers bureau and a citywide law-related essay contest with New York County Lawyers’ Association Law-related Education Committee, chaired by Justice Richard Lee Price
• law days sponsored by New York County Lawyers Association and the New York City Bar’s’ judicial committee
• Street Law and the Supreme Court Historical Society provided professional development for our teachers
• the District Attorney’s offices provided tours and guest speakers.

The work at the Justice Resource Center is made possible from the outstanding support the Executive Director receives from the Center’s distinguished Board of Directors.

A special thanks is extended to the New York City educators, especially to the classroom teachers. A special acknowledgement is extended to the legal community for their commitment to our New York City students and educators.