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College honors students help “grade” new Civic Education programs
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – For more than a year, subcommittees of the Supreme Court of Missouri’s Committee on Civic Education have been developing presentations about the role of judges and the importance of fair and impartial courts.
The question that lingered throughout the development process was how these presentations would be received by an audience.
The answer was provided when Judge Patricia Breckenridge of the Supreme Court of Missouri and Dr. Anthony Simones, manager of judicial education at the state courts administrator’s office, piloted two of these programs at the Supreme Court to an audience of honors students from Southeast Missouri State University.
The students’ role was not limited to simply watching and listening. They were challenged by Judge Breckenridge and Dr. Simones to respond to the issues in the presentations. Afterward, the students critiqued the presentations, articulating their views about the programs’ strengths and weaknesses, both in writing as well as by interacting with the presenters.
Judge Breckenridge presented a program about the landmark Dred Scott case dealing with slavery. Dr. Simones’ presentation focused on a First Amendment case concerning events in Skokie, Illinois, in which members of the American Nazi Party sought to march in a predominantly Jewish city. Both presentations addressed the role of the courts in dealing with controversial disputes.
Judge Breckenridge explained, “By placing the audience in a position of being judges and having to decide a controversial case, they were able to experience for themselves the difficulty of ruling in a case of great significance, in which strong arguments exist on both sides of the issue.”
Simones added, “My hope is that the students took away an understanding of the challenges faced by judges as they wrestle with the really tough decisions. In addition, all of us involved with this civic education effort hope that the students’ respect and regard for the courts will be enhanced through this experience.”
The students’ comments confirmed that the civic education committee is on the right track, although they also will help the committee refine the presentations to make them even more engaging and meaningful for audiences.
One participant noted, “It engaged the audience and provided a riveting topic to explore legal reasoning.”
Another student said, “It gives a deeper view of the challenge the courts face and how the courts solve it.”
For Dr. Simones, the experience was not only useful but also enjoyable.
“As a professor for more than 20 years, I can say that I love interacting with brilliant people about important issues,” he said. “Well, on this day, I provided the important issues, and the students most certainly provided the brilliance.”
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