Judging for themselves

Heather Rawlyk

Friday, May 14, 2004 | 4:32 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

May 15 - 16, 2004

When Henderson Municipal Court Judge Douglas Hedger was elected to the bench one year ago, one of his goals was to be a positive role model for the youth in the community.

As merit badge counselor of law for local Boy Scouts, Hedger enjoys teaching area youth about court operations and introducing young minds to a variety of careers within the municipal court.

In January Hedger took his educational outreach to the next level by creating the Legal Minds program, which gives Henderson elementary students insight into the legal system by observing court proceedings, touring the courthouse and learning about court operations and personnel.

Since the program's start more than 800 fifth and sixth graders have been through the courthouse in Henderson -- more than half of the Henderson schools invited, according to Toni Barden, Hedger's executive assistant.

"A lot of the elementary schools have brought classes here on career day," she said. "With our program they get exposed to a variety of jobs in the legal field, so it fits right in with that (career day)."

Hedger explained that older children are usually offered mock trial programs through their schools to learn about the law and are not usually offered field trips, as elementary schoolchildren are.

The program will be modified next school year to focus on fifth grade students, Hedger said.

"At that age, they're mature enough that they know the rules of the court and know to be quiet," he said. "They also have good questions afterward for me."

The program begins at 10 a.m. at the start of criminal sentencing, Hedger said. The children take their seats in the jury box and overfill into the gallery.

Two students are chosen by the teacher to sit with Hedger on the judge's bench, he said.

For one hour students observe criminal sentencings, which include only misdemeanor crimes in Municipal Court, Hedger explained.

"We don't deal with murders or anything like that," he said. "But we deal with crimes serious enough that the children see people go to jail or pay fines and do community service."

Afterward students are given the opportunity to ask Hedger questions about what they witnessed in the courtroom.

"They ask a lot of good questions and want to know things like why someone got one sentence and why someone got another sentence," he said. "They'll ask why somebody had to go to jail versus paying a fine.

"And then I get questions like why I wear a black robe and why I slam a big wooden hammer," he said.

Students are then provided a tour of the courthouse, where they are introduced to court personnel and allowed to step into the court's holding cells.

"That's their favorite part usually," Hedger said. "Going into the holding cells and also meeting the court marshal because he shows them his taser (gun) and they get to ask questions about how it works."

Hedger said he has received numerous thank you letters from students, as well as notes about their favorite parts of the program.

"I've also gotten several letters where kids say that they want to be a judge when they grow up or go to law school to be a lawyer," he said. "Other kids tell me they learned not to be bad or they'll have to go to court."

He said it's great to see the students in the courtroom "on a friendly basis."

"By doing this, we can maybe decrease the chances of seeing these kids when they're older on a non-friendly basis," he said.

For more information on the Legal Minds program, call Henderson Municipal Court at (702) 267-3354.