Judges in the Classroom
Judges in the Classroom
Judges in the Classroom (JIC) began as a cornerstone of Former California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye’s Statewide Civic Learning Initiative. The JIC program pairs eligible judicial officers with K-12 public school teachers for virtual and in-person visits as requested by teachers that engage students in law-related civics lessons. The lessons, lasting approximately one hour, are focused on discussions on the Role of Judges, the U.S. Constitution, Rule of Law, or Historical Milestones in the making of our democracy. Community Engagement staff collects requests from schools in the area submitted to JIC and connects teachers with bench officers.
The JIC public website allows teachers to make requests for classroom appearances and offers lessons available for bench officers to present. Some of the lesson plans include “No Vehicles Allowed”, “Salem Witchcraft Trials”, “Riley vs. California”, “¡Si Se Puede!”, “Sleepy Lagoon Zoot Suite Trial”, etc.
Orange County Superior Court was selected as 1 of 10 pilot counties to participate because of our court’s strong local civic learning and judicial engagement efforts.
Please allow at least three weeks for courts to make the match.
Signing Up is Easy!
Register Here: Judges in the Classroom Registration
For any questions?
Contact CommunityEngagement@occourts.org for more information.