SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara University School of Law hosts its second Santa Clara Law Constitution Day for Youth on Friday, September 16, 2011 as part of the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project.
A hundred local high school students from Andrew Hill High School, Downtown College Preparatory, Gunderson High School, and Yerba Buena High School will participate in mock law school classes, interact with current law students and faculty, while expanding their understanding of the U.S. Constitution and the rights and responsibilities associated with it.
Dean Marina Hsieh and Santa Clara Law alum, Deborah Moss-West, will highlight the First Amendment in “Freedom of Student Press”. “Constitution and You” focuses on the steps leading to a criminal trial. A timeline presented by Santa Clara Law alums Mike Chavez and Alvaro Almanza (Santa Clara Public Defender’s Office), and Elias Portales of EFP Law Group (Georgetown Law) explores each significant aspect of the criminal trial process. Instructors will also survey the 5th Amendment and the landmark case of Miranda v. Arizona.
“The goal of Santa Clara Law Constitution Day for Youth is to reach out to young people in high school to get them thinking about their future and interest them in law school,” said Jeanette Leach, Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid and an event coordinator.
In addition to the high school program, the law school’s Center for Social Justice and Public Service will hold its annual Supreme Court Term Review to engage law students in discussions about the high court’s decisions during the previous term. Professor Bradley Joondeph, who served as a judicial clerk to former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, will facilitate the discussion.
The law school’s American Constitution Society also organized events at local middle schools to provide an introduction to the U.S. Constitution.
The Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project is a multifaceted program built around law students teaching the Constitution and moot court skills in local high schools. The pilot program at Santa Clara Law will begin Spring 2012.
About Santa Clara Law
During this academic year, Santa Clara University School of Law is celebrating its first 100 years of educating lawyers who lead. Founded in 1911 on the site of California’s oldest operating higher-education institution, Santa Clara Law is dedicated to educating lawyers who lead, with a commitment to excellence, ethics, and social justice. One of the nation’s most diverse law schools, Santa Clara Law offers its 975 students an academically rigorous program, including graduate degrees in international law and intellectual property law; a combined J.D./MBA degree; a combined J.D./MSIS degree; and certificates in high technology law, international law, and public interest and social justice law. Santa Clara Law is located in the world-class business center of Silicon Valley, and is distinguished nationally for its top-ranked program in intellectual property. For more information, see law.scu.edu.
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