High school students from Dyer and Lake counties will participate April 10 in a state Supreme Court program designed to educate young Tennesseans about the judicial branch of government.
The 300 students and their teachers from three schools will attend a special Supreme Court session at the Dyer County Courthouse where justices will hear oral arguments in three actual cases. Following oral arguments, students will meet for question and answer sessions with attorneys who presented each side in their cases.
Participating students and teachers also will join the Supreme Court for lunch at The Lannom Center. During lunch and a brief program, students will be seated at tables with the five Supreme Court justices, local judges and attorneys, city, county and school officials.
Chancellor Steve Stafford of Dyersburg, president of the Tennessee Judicial Conference, is coordinating the 29th Judicial District project. Schools participating in SCALES - an acronym for the Supreme Court Advancing Legal Education for Students – are Dyer County High School, Lake County High School and Dyersburg High School.
The court also will conduct a SCALES program May 12 at Tennessee Tech University in Cookeville. Justices will hear two cases with 630 Tennessee Boys State delegates representing all 95 counties attending.
Teachers whose classes are involved in 29th Judicial District SCALES project attended a three-hour professional development session Feb. 20 in Dyersburg. Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Joe Riley of Ridgely discussed the state and federal court systems, answered questions and presented an overview of the cases to be argued when students attend SCALES. Teachers also were provided with notebooks of materials to use in their classrooms, including suggested activities, and SCALES Project handbooks for each student.
"The Tennessee Supreme Court believes that knowledge and understanding of the judicial branch of government are essential to good citizenship,” Chief Justice Frank Drowota said. “The SCALES Project is designed to educate young participants about the system they will inherit. The interaction we have with the students at lunch and throughout the day also renews our faith that our nation’s future is in good hands.”
Local judges and attorneys met with participating teachers at the professional development session to schedule classroom visits to review the cases students will hear. After justices rule in the cases, copies of the court's opinions will be provided to the classes.
"The SCALES Project is important because it creates a partnership between the judiciary, the Bar and schools to promote a better understanding of the judicial branch of government," the chief justice said. "We hope that teachers will use the materials to make judicial education a continuing part of their curriculum."
Issues in the cases students will hear in Dyersburg include whether the Court of Appeals erred by reversing a jury verdict rejecting the insanity defense in a murder case; whether a physician is liable for injuries to a motorist for prescribing medication which impaired a patient’s ability to drive without warning him of possible effects on his ability to drive; and whether the offense of driving under the influence is barred by the statute of limitations because the charge was filed more than one year after the crime was committed.
Including SCALES in the 29th Judicial District, more than 11,000 Tennessee students across the state have taken part in the project since the Supreme Court initiated it in 1995.