A Rite of Passage Takes Students to Court

Beginning in November 2002 and stretching into next year, more than 60 courts across the country will host local high school students in a program that hopes to show them the privilege and responsibility of jury duty.

The courts and students are participating in the 2002 Open Doors to Federal Courts, part of the national outreach program of the federal Judiciary. This year’s theme is "Jury Service: A Rite of Passage." The outreach program targets high school students with the goal of increasing their court literacy—and the likelihood they will respond positively to jury summonses later on in their adult lives. The official event was on November 13, but courts may schedule the program at any time and as many times a year as they wish.

Even before students reach the courthouse, teachers receive a Teachers Institute/Program Orientation at the courthouse and are given lesson plans to prepare their students. Served their jury summonses and questionnaires in the classroom, students arrive at the courthouse ready to act as jurors. And their day in the courtroom is as true as possible to a real juror’s experience. Students participate in voir dire, hear testimony in a mock trial, deliberate and reach a verdict.

For more information on the program and participating courthouses, contact national outreach manager Rebecca Fanning at rebecca_fanning@ao.uscourts.gov.

Open Doors 2002 - West Scranton High School seniors Jonathon Davis and Kevin Piskunowicz enjoy a laugh with Chief Judge Thomas I. Vanaskie as they watch a clip from "My Cousin Vinny" as part of a demonstration of the capabilities of the Middle District of Pennsylvania’s electronic courtroom. (Photo by: John Pivovarnick, Systems Technician, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.)	Open Doors 2002 - Assistant United States Attorney Douglas Semisch listens while student jurors from Pius High School in Lincoln, Nebraska, are sworn in as mock jurors. Semisch and the students were participating in an educational outreach program held on November 13, 2002, that was hosted by the U.S. District Court of Nebraska. (Photo by: Gary McFarland, Clerk of the Court, District of Nebraska.)	Open Doors 2002 – Chief Judge Donald W. Molloy (D. Mont.) and Patrick Duffy, Clerk of Court, talk with eighth grade teachers after the mock jury selection on Law Day 2002. The District of Montana welcomed 60 Washington Middle School students to the Russell E. Smith Courthouse in Missoula on Law Day. (Photo by Patrick Duffy, clerk of court, District of Montana.)