Students from 18 Hamilton County high schools, along with 15 local home schooled students, will hear arguments in three state Supreme Court cases May 5 as participants in a program that educates young Tennesseans about the judicial branch of government.
The 677 students and their teachers will attend a special Supreme Court session at Chattanooga State Technical Community College. Each of three groups of students will hear oral arguments in one actual case, followed by a question and answer session with the attorneys for both sides in the case.
Schools participating in SCALES - an acronym for the Supreme Court Advancing Legal Education for Students - are Brainard, Soddy-Daisy, East Ridge, Lookout Valley, Sale Creek, Hixson, Central, Ooltewah, Baylor, Notre Dame, 21st Century and Red Bank High Schools. Also taking part in SCALES are the Chattanooga Center for Creative Arts, Boyd Buchanan School, Girls Preparatory School, McCallie School, Silverdale Baptist Academy, David Brainerd Christian School and the Chattanooga Southeast Tennessee Home Education Association.
Since the first SCALES program in 1995, more than 15,000 students from public and private schools across the state have participated.
The Hamilton County students and teachers will join the Supreme Court, local judges, attorneys and other guests for lunch and a brief program. The meal is being sponsored by the Chattanooga Bar Association.
Teachers whose classes are involved in the project attended a three-hour professional development session March 2 at the Hamilton County Courthouse, led by Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals Judge James Curwood Witt, Jr. The session included a review of cases to be argued at SCALES. The 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 is committed to SCALES because we believe the program plays a role in shaping well-informed good citizens,” Chief Justice William M. Barker of Chattanooga said. “These young people will inherit the system and should understand how it works and how it affects them. Every time we conduct SCALES and I have an opportunity to visit with the students, it renews my faith that our nation’s future is in very good hands.”
Circuit Court Judge Neil Thomas coordinated the project in Hamilton County. He and other local judges and attorneys met with teachers at the professional development session to schedule classroom visits to review the cases and issues to be considered by the Supreme Court. After justices rule in the cases, copies of the court's opinions will be provided to the classes and posted on the court system website at www.tncourts.gov.
Issues in the cases Hamilton County students will hear include whether a trial court correctly ruled that the death of a day laborer was a compensable injury resulting from his employment ; whether the state constitution guarantees a right to a jury trial in an appeal to criminal court from a juvenile court decision; and whether the Court of Appeals erred in affirming a trial court’s child support award in a case in which the legality of the parents’ marriage was in question.