Operation Protect and Defend
By Bion Gregory

The bench and bar in our community has embarked upon a project to educate high school students about the basic principles that lie at the core of our system of government and the courts. In response to alarming statistics showing that a significant percentage of high school and college students lack even a basic understanding of the Constitution and American Government, a small group of judges and lawyers, led by Federal District Court Judge Frank Damrell, assembled to address this disturbing trend. The group's purpose was to examine the problem and determine how lawyers and judges, each having taken an oath to "protect and defend" the Constitution of the United States for bar admission, could fulfill their responsibility as public citizens and address this widespread ignorance. The goal was educate students who would be future voters and jurors, as well as to renew interest in American history and civic values.

As a result of the efforts of the group, "Operation Protect and Defend – Lawyers and Judges Committed to Civic Education in the Public Schools" was created. The project is sponsored by the Sacramento County Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association. This year the project consists of three parts – "Story on America," an essay competition, with winning entries to be published by the Sacramento Bee; "Dialogue on America," a month long series of in-class conversations between judges, lawyers, and students; and a conversation with award-winning legal writer and Dallas Morning News reporter Mark Curriden, coauthor of Contempt of Court: The Turn of the Century Lynching that Launched 100 Years of Federalism.

To implement the civics programs, a Steering Committee composed of a distinguished and diverse group of Federal and State court judges and lawyers, and the chapter presidents from each Sacramento-area bar association, was created. The deans of the McGeorge School of Law and the U.C. Davis King Hall School of Law serve as advisers to the committee. A Teacher Advisory Committee composed of a dedicated group of civics and history teachers from the Sacramento City Unified and the San Juan Unified School Districts assisted the Steering Committee in developing and implementing the programs in the public schools. This year the program involved seven high schools, with that number increasing in the future.

On March 12, the Project sponsored an interactive lecture by Curriden at Luther Burbank High School, during which he addressed the students on the history of federalism in America. His speech was drawn from his book which chronicles the case of Ed Johnson. Johnson was an uneducated black man who was lynched in Chattanooga, Tennessee, following his conviction for rape in 1906, despite a United States Supreme Court order staying his execution. Joseph Shipp, the Tennessee sheriff who allowed Johnson's lynching in open defiance of the Supreme Court order, was tried for contempt of the Supreme Court's order and found guilty. This case established the precedent for Federal jurisdiction over State courts, and provides a fascinating analysis of the relationship between Federal and State courts. (Editor's Note: Photos of Curriden's lecture are found on page 24.)

The Dialogue on America, which was modeled on the Dialogue on Freedom developed by U. S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, gave participants an opportunity to engage high school seniors in a thought-provoking dialogue about our democratic form of government and civic traditions. The dialogue drew from important aspects of American Government, history, and the U.S. Constitution raised in Mark Curriden's book. The dialogue was designed to help high school students identify and understand fundamental American civic values, including basic information regarding the Constitution and American government by having a dialogue with lawyers and judges. A "team" of one judge and one lawyer met with the high school students in April to discuss important aspects of the U.S. Constitution and American Government.

The Story of America essay competition was open to 12th grade students. The participants were asked to submit an original essay or creative work on a topic relating to American History, American Government, and/or the U.S. Constitution, based on suggestions developed by the Teacher Advisory Committee and Steering Committee related to the ideas of justice developed in Curriden's book. More than 300 essays were received. They were judged by individuals selected by the Steering Committee, including lawyers and judges from the community. The top cash prize of $2,500, and over $5,600 in prize money, were awarded to the winning entries at the Sacramento County Bar Association's Law Day dinner on May 1.

The Project complements existing programs in the Sacramento legal community. The Women Lawyers of Sacramento conduct the 4th and 5th R's Rights and Responsibilities Under the Law program. It is a semester-long program which takes lawyers, judges, and law students into the public schools.

Another one is the Open Doors to Federal Courts program. The program is designed to assist educators in teaching about the Federal court system in ways that are relevant to existing educational standards. An Open Doors to Federal Courts Justice program, focusing on jury service, took place on November 13, 2002, at the United States Federal Courthouse in Sacramento. Over 250 students from six Sacramento-area high schools attended the program. The students served as jurors for a mock trial presented by lawyers from the United States Attorney's Office and Federal Defender's Office.

"Operation Protect and Defend -- Lawyers and Judges Committed to Civic Education in the Public Schools " and the complementary programs run by the local bar associations are essential to ensure that students understand and appreciate the roots of the justice system, and have the capacity to grapple with the questions and challenges likely to confront judges, lawyers, and citizens in the years ahead. The lawyers and judges who give selflessly of their time to enable these programs to succeed are to be commended and represent the best of the legal profession.