High school students court up close look at judicial system

Jace Radke

Friday, Feb. 28, 2003 | 10:05 a.m.

U.S. District Judge Philip Pro may have caught a glimpse of a future attorney Thursday when he met Cimarron-Memorial High School senior Tiana Smith-Jones at the George Federal Building.

Smith-Jones, a 17-year-old who aspires to be a lawyer, got the opportunity to meet Pro and see a federal court firsthand as part of Open Doors to Federal Courts, a national program designed to teach high school students about the court system.

"Being a lawyer is a very important job," Smith-Jones said. "You have to make sure you represent your clients and the job you do could mean someone's life."

About 175 Clark County students attended the daylong seminar that included presentations on the grand jury, the role of magistrate judges and a mock drug trial with real attorneys and students from the Boyd School of Law playing witnesses.

The students got to act as juries and make decisions based on the evidence presented.

Sara Gardner, curriculum coordinator for the Clark County School District, said the program offers a unique experience for students.

"This really lets them see the concepts they are learning in class in action," Gardner said. "This is a little more exciting then reading about it in a textbook."

The students taking part are enrolled in a government class, which is a requirement for graduation in Clark County. Along with Cimarron-Memorial, students from Green Valley, Eldorado, Mojave and Clark high schools also participated.

Pro opened the program by pointing out that some of the students were already old enough to serve as jurors.

"I've had many jurors who were 18, 19 and 20 years old," Pro said.

Thursday's program is part of an educational outreach by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Officials with the Clark County Bar Association and pre-trial services also took part in the program.

The bar association sponsors other educational programs for local students including Trial by Peers, which allows students to represent and sentence other teens who are charged as first-time misdemeanor offenders.

Smith-Jones is active in Trial by Peers, but was still excited to see how a federal courtroom works.

"In Trial by Peers it's mostly smaller misdemeanor cases, but federal court is where the bigger cases are," Smith-Jones said. "There is always more to learn."