Students from 19 public and private Shelby County high schools will hear arguments in three state Supreme Court cases Nov. 14 as participants in a program that educates young Tennesseans about the judicial branch of government.
The 400 students and their teachers will attend a special Supreme Court session at the Shelby County Courthouse. 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 cases.
Chief Justice William M. Barker and Justices Janice M. Holder, Cornelia A. Clark and Gary R. Wade will be joined by Court of Appeals Judge Sharon G. Lee to hear the cases. Lee will sit as a special justice because the five-member court has a vacancy. The SCALES session will mark the first time three women have sat on the state Supreme Court.
Schools participating in SCALES - an acronym for the Supreme Court Advancing Legal Education for Students - are Arlington, Bartlett, Collierville, Millington Central, Sheffield, Cordova, East, Hamilton, Hillcrest, Mitchell, Christian Brothers, Memphis Catholic and White Haven High Schools; Faith Heritage Christian Academy; Grizzlies Academy; Hutchison School; Memphis Junior Academy; Memphis University School; Pleasant View School; and St. Agnes Academy.
Since the first SCALES program in 1995, more than 16,000 students across the state have participated.
The Shelby 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 Memphis Bar Association and a local bank.
Teachers whose classes are involved in the project attended a three-hour professional development session Sept. 28, led by Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge Holly Kirby. 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 Jerry Stokes coordinated the project in Shelby 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 students will hear include whether the defendants in a lawsuit violated the plaintiff’s right to equal protection of the law at trial by using their jury challenges to remove all African-Americans and all but four women from the jury; whether a trial court judge erred by affirming a district attorney general’s denial of pretrial diversion for a minister who was criminally charged in the death of his daughter; and whether a defendant’s 35-year sentence for second-degree murder was illegal.