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Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Ind. Courts - More on "Speedway High School Becomes Indiana Court of Appeals"

Updating this ILB entry from Saturday, John Tuohy of the Indianapolis Star has a report today headed "Kids meet judges: Courtroom session held at Speedway High School Friday showed students the judicial system up close."

The story focuses on the Q & S session between the judges and the students after the oral arguments. A great photo that accompanies the story says it all - it show the backs of the three judges, sitting in their robes on the edge of the stage, looking out on a packed auditorium of students and answering their questions. Some quotes:

The judges, Margret G. Robb, James S. Kirsch and Patrick D. Sullivan, peppered lawyers from both sides with questions from the outset.

After the hearing, the judges took questions from the group of about 200 students for more than an hour -- though they were not allowed to comment on the case they just heard.

One student wanted to know whether the judges thought marijuana should be legalized. Others asked about gay marriage, judicial independence and how the judges felt after making a decision.

"I think it would be tough to do our jobs if we were constantly worried about whether we made the right decision," Kirsch said, noting that the judges hear 500 cases a year. "We need to reach a decision and go on to the next case."

History teacher Andre Young, who convinced the court to come to the school, said he was impressed by the questions the students asked.

"I thought they were insightful," said Young, a law student at Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis. "We talked a lot about the case beforehand but I did not tell them what to ask."

Maura Pierce, a spokeswoman for the court, said the session at Speedway was the 184th held at law schools, colleges, high schools and county courthouses since 2000. * * *

Kirsch said that the justices try to choose cases that would appeal to their audiences. "This was a good case for them because it involves a crime committed by someone when they were a juvenile,'' he said.

Kirsch said he was impressed by the questions. "They were very topical," he said. "They were questions you ask if you have been paying attention to current events."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on April 18, 2007 08:45 AM
Posted to Ind. App.Ct. Decisions