Students from 10 public and private high schools in Williamson, Perry, Lewis and Hickman counties will participate Oct. 8 in a state Supreme Court program designed to educate young Tennesseans about the judicial branch of government.
The 500 students and their teachers will attend a special Supreme Court session at the old historic courthouse in Franklin 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, sponsored by Tennessee Bank & Trust Company, and a brief program. During lunch, students will be seated at tables with the five Supreme Court justices, local judges and attorneys, state, city, county and school officials.
Circuit Court Judge Tim Easter of Brentwood is coordinating the 21st Judicial District educational project. Public schools participating in SCALES - an acronym for the Supreme Court Advancing Legal Education for Students - are Ravenwood, Fairview, Centennial, Perry County, Lewis County, Hickman County and Franklin High Schools. Private schools taking part in the program are Battle Ground Academy, Brentwood Academy and Franklin Classical School.
Teachers whose classes are involved in SCALES attended a three-hour professional development session Aug. 19. Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge Frank Clement of Nashville 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 educates 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."
Including SCALES in the 21st Judicial District, more than 12,500 Tennessee students across the state have taken part in the project since the Supreme Court initiated it in 1995.
Issues in the cases students will hear in Franklin include whether incriminating statements made by a suspect immediately after a polygraph examination are admissible as evidence in a later trial; whether the Court of Appeals erred in finding constitutional a municipal ordinance allowing the Nolensville Town Court to impose an $18,600 assessment for storing inoperative vehicles and junk on private property; whether a jury should have assigned fault to a 16-year-old girl who illegally purchased beer and provided it to the driver of a car who crashed it into a guardrail, severely injuring the girl's twin sister; and whether the doctrine of parental immunity applies to bar a claim by a minor child who sustained injuries while assisting at his father's workplace.