If You Have 30 to 60 Minutes with a Group
Choose from a list of one-paragraph scenarios and guide participants through two, brief legal processes in a courtroom, a classroom, or a community group meeting:
- Simulation of a Brief Sentencing Hearing,
- Simulation of an Abbreviated Mediation,
- — OR —
- Facilitate a Conversation on the Real Meaning of Judicial Independence
Sentencing Activity: You Be the Judge
Program Description: Using the program resources provided, all audience members serve as judges who must sentence a high school student charged with selling fake I.D.s across state lines.
Preparation Time: Judges and lawyers spend 30 minutes reviewing the program resources for the scenario. No further reading or research is necessary.
Program Duration: The program can expand or contract to fit the time available from 30-60 minutes.
Audiences: High school, community college, university students; lay adults and lifelong learners.
Activity Resources:
- When Fireworks Become a Forest Fire: What are the Consequences?
- The Cost of Fake I.D.s: Are You Willing to Pay with Your Future
Video and two Scenarios with Instructions (downloadable zip file and infographic)
Mediation Activity: Smokey Bear Has an Image to Protect
Program Description: Using the program resources provided, all audience members participate in a guided mediation regarding the image of Smokey Bear.
Preparation Time: Judges and the mediator spend 30 minutes reviewing the program resources for the mediation. No further reading or research is necessary.
Program Duration: The program can expand or contract to fit the time available from 30-60 minutes. Additional program elements can be used to extend the program to a total of three hours.
Audiences: High school, community college, university students; lay adults and lifelong learners.
Activity Resources:
What Does Judicial Independence REALLY Mean?
Program Description: Breathe life into the vital topic of judicial independence with videos and discussion starters on the judges’ oath, an impartial judiciary, and the first-person stories of federal judges who have experienced adversity.
Preparation Time: Judges and lawyers spend 30 minutes reviewing the videos. Background on the Judiciary Act of 1789 that created the federal judiciary also is ready for review. No further reading or research is necessary.
Program Duration: The program can expand or contract to fit the time available from 30-60 minutes.
Audiences: High school, community college, and university students; lay adults and lifelong learners.
Activity Resources:
- Judges’ Oath of Office (:59 seconds)
- Pathways to the Bench (3-5 minutes)
- An Impartial Judiciary (2:50 minutes) and the Rule of Law
Resources produced by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. For more, go to http://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources.