District courts are generally
referred to as community courts because of their proximity to everyday
citizens. That puts district court judges
in a unique and advantageous position to partner with local leaders and create
projects that can make a real and substantial impact. It is within this spirit of community
cooperation that the “Justice 101” program was formed.
After my election to the 44th
District Court in November 2012, I took the bench, as many newly elected or
appointed judges do, with a host of new ideas and concepts that I wanted to
implement. Making those ideas a reality
is always a greater challenge than one anticipates. However, when it came to my goal of creating a
real and enduring connection between the court and the local Royal Oak school
system, I quickly found that it was a goal shared by many in town.
Prior to taking the bench, I
spent over a decade as a prosecutor, and both observed and participated in many
court visit programs utilized by local district courts. Although there were many aspects of these
court visit programs that I admired, none provided the comprehensive approach
that I believed was necessary to make a long-lasting impact on the student
participants.
I felt that it was necessary to
provide the students with some context, some greater understanding of what they
were observing in court. The only way to
accomplish that would be to meet with the students in advance. In addition, I did not want to pick certain
schools and classrooms while leaving other groups behind. Another factor to consider was the type of
docket that students should be observing. Finally, I had to find the appropriate grade—a
group youth enough to be “wowed” by a trip to a courthouse, yet old enough to
comprehend the weighty topics that would be discussed.
After some research, I decided
to design a program for 5th grade students. The challenges related to drugs, alcohol, and
other criminal behavior were starting as early as junior high, so I decided to
make sure that no student set foot into the Royal Oak Middle School without a
clear understanding of the consequences of poor choices.
It then became clear that the
best day of the week for the students to come observe would be Wednesday
mornings. Every Wednesday, we have a
full probation docket, with sentencings, probation reviews, and probation
violations. The students would then see
misdemeanor cases and not have to deal with the heavier felony cases that are
part of our Friday state law docket.
Having selected the age group
and the docket, I set out to make the pitch to the superintendent, school board,
and elementary school principals. The
program would be two days in duration, with the judge visiting the school on
Tuesday and the students visiting the court on Wednesday. Before making my presentation, it was
important to have some data to support the proposal, so I partnered with one
school, Oakridge Elementary, and tested out the program concept on two classes
in May 2013.
After having success with the
test run, I then presented the results to the superintendent and school board
in July 2013. I utilized notes that the
students took during the court visit to show just how well they were grasping
the material during the visit, combined with comments from the students,
teachers and parents on the post-visit impact.
The superintendent and school
board fully backed the program and by that fall, every Royal Oak public
elementary school class had signed up to visit. I made similar presentations to the local
parochial schools, as well. The efforts
were successful. For the 2013-14 school
year, every 5th grade class in the city of Royal Oak took part in the “Justice
101” program.
Prior to the start of the
2013-14 school year, I reached out to the Royal Oak Chief of Police about
incorporating a police station tour with the “Justice 101” program. The station is a short walk from the court,
and seemed to be a perfect complement to the program. The chief agreed and “Justice 101” took its
final form.
On Tuesdays, during my lunch
hour, I have a pre-court visit session with the students. The pre-visit lasts for about 75 minutes and I
always tell the students we are going to have four segments:
- The
different levels of courts in the Michigan Judicial System, and their
roles and responsibilities;
- The
types of cases they are going to observe;
- How
someone becomes eligible to run for judge here in the state of Michigan;
and
- Question
and answer session.
At the end of the pre-visit
session, I provide the students with a vocabulary list and a blank chart for
them to follow along as they are observing cases. Each student is expected to learn the
definition of one word overnight as assigned by their teacher.
On the actual day of the court
visit, the students arrive between 9:00 and 9:15 a.m. The deputy court administrator takes them on a
tour of the courthouse and they arrive in the courtroom between 9:30 and 9:45 a.m.
and sit in the jury box. We can
accommodate up to 35 students. They stay
in the courtroom for approximately one hour, and then I take a recess for about
10 to 15 minutes to give them a tour of the chambers and talk briefly about
some of the things that the students observed. The students are then on to the police station
for a tour from 11:00 to 11:45 a.m. This
allows the student to be back to school by noon.
Since 2013-14, more than 1,500 5th
graders have graduated from the “Justice 101” program. In January 2015, the 44th District Court
brought the community of Berkley into its jurisdiction. I reached out to the Berkley schools
superintendent about the “Justice 101” program and for the 2016-17 school year,
we have three Berkley 5th grade classes coming through. We will look to expand in the coming years.
This is certainly a time-intensive
program for any judge looking to take it on. It would also seem to be particularly
challenging in those district courts that serve multiple jurisdictions. I will be visiting 27 5th-grade classes this
year, alone. I truly believe that it is
a worthy investment in the strengthening of the next generation, and a
statement of the good that can be accomplished when the court, the police, the
schools, the teachers, and the students in a community all come together.
Judge Meinecke took the bench in January 2013. He previously served 10 years in the Oakland
County Prosecutor’s Office; prior to becoming a prosecutor he worked as a law
clerk in the 44th District Court. In
2011, the Oakland County S.A.V.E. Task Force recognized him with its “Courage
to Lead” award, citing his efforts on “the front lines in prevention of elder
abuse.”