Operation Protect and Defend Program Kicked off at Luther Burbank High School
Photos by Ken Rabiroff

This spring, the Federal Bar Association and the Sacramento County Bar Association have jointly sponsored Operation Protect and Defend -- The Constitutional Project. The project was formed by a concerned group of federal and state court judges, lawyers, and teachers in response to statistics showing that many high school and college students lack a fundamental knowledge of the U.S. Constitution and of American history. The inaugural year of the project has been a three-part program based on issues raised in the book Contempt of Court: The Turn of the Century Lynching that Launched 100 Years of Federalism.

The first part of the program was a lecture at Luther Burbank High School on March 12, 2003 by the book's co-author, Mark Curriden. The lecture was attended by students in government classes at Luther Burbank, McClatchy High School, Rio Americano High School, and Kennedy High School as well as by lawyers and judges participating in the program. The lecture was also filmed by the California Channel, which broadcast the event several times during March and April. A more detailed report on Operation Protect and Defend, which also included visits to government classes at six high schools by teams of judges and lawyers and an essay context, will be published in the July/August issue of the Sacramento Lawyer.

U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell, Jr., author Mark Curriden, and Assistant United States Attorney Robin R. Taylor in front of the Luther Burbank Auditorium where Curriden spoke	Judge Damrell introduced Curriden to the high school students assembled in the auditorium.
Superior Court Judges Michael Virga and Judy Hersher conferred after the lecture.	Chris Krueger, Heather Candy, U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England, Jr., and Judge Damrell.
Several students approached the microphone to ask Curriden questions about Ed Johnson's story.
Author Mark Curriden told the story of Ed Johnson, a black man who was lynched by a white mob in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1906 and the U.S. Supreme Court's response to that lynching - the first and only contempt trial held by the Court.