Cathedral’s senior government students traveled to the Superior Court of California at downtown San Diego on Wednesday, October 26th and Thursday, October 27th, to witness the justice system in action.

“We take the Government students to the courthouse because ‘experiencing justice’ first-hand is much more meaningful than reading about it from the textbook,” said American Government and Sociology teacher Ms. Melissa Padgett. “There really is no way to re-create what goes on during a trial, so it is important for students to witness it for themselves.”

Students met their government teachers at the Morena Linda Vista Trolley Station and, together, they took the trolley and then walked to the courthouse. After passing through a security checkpoint, the students were ushered into a mock trial room, where Justice 101 coordinator Mrs. Julie Myres familiarized them with the basics of courtroom knowledge.

After a presentation by Judge Fred Link regarding making good decisions, students were given two hours to visit whichever trial rooms they wished. Each received an informative handout that specified where certain trials were to take place. Some trials featured people being tried for murder, sexual battery, DUI, brandishing a false weapon, and falsely reporting an emergency.

Ms. Padgett said, “It seemed like students really enjoyed themselves on the trip this semester. There were many interesting cases from which students could choose to visit. They came back from the courtrooms excited to share their experiences.”

AP Government and Government teacher Mr. Matt Baier said, “We got a lot of positive feedback from students.  It sounds like they saw some really interesting court cases and enjoyed hearing from the judges as part of the Justice 101 presentation.”

Senior Camille Johansen said her favorite trial was a felony arraignment. “The judge, who was also blind, was kind enough to take the time to explain the arraignment process to the students. In the trial, we got to see the consequences of individuals who violate their probation and to better understand how the trial process works,” she said.

Seniors Cole Bollman and Jordan Simmons chose a case involving a local police officer who has been accused of sexually harassing women. The trial was being filmed for television.

“I thought that the sexual battery case was very interesting,” said Cole. “It showed that even our own police force can be at fault and can be corrupt and that our state government is willing to intervene and investigate its own people.”

Jordan said she enjoyed learning about a currently relevant and widely publicized case.

“One thing that stood out was that it seemed like a lot of students had connections to people who worked at the courthouse [lawyers, judges, deputies, translators, etc.],” said Ms. Padgett. “Whether it was parents or family friends, it seemed like more students were familiar with courthouse personnel than in previous years.”

Senior Catherine Hedrick said her favorite part of the trip was being able to sit in on real trials. She said, “I’ve never had an opportunity like that, and I was interested to see how trials really work compared to the way they seem on T.V.”

She learned that it takes longer than she had thought for a jury to reach a verdict. Also, she said, “The presentation of evidence by witnesses is much more thorough than I had thought.”

“My favorite part of the trip was the freedom to visit whatever courtroom we wanted to go to,” Camille said. “This way, we could see the different types of court cases and trials and learn the different aspects of the court system.”

Jordan said, “It was very interesting to see how our justice system works. And I learned that the public can just sit in on almost any trial. I did not know that before.”

“I thought that the judge who spoke at the beginning was really passionate about his job and really wants to reach out to students on the importance of making wise decisions,” Camille said, regarding Judge Link’s presentation. “He had a great sense of humor and was not afraid to discuss the truth about issues that surround teenagers today.”

Cole said, “I learned that all judges aren’t intimidating and that they are normal people just like us.”

Cathedral is the first school in San diego to go on this trip, said Mr. Baier.  Mrs. Anne Egan, the Director of Curriculum, and Mrs. Myres, came up with the idea.

“We continue to go on the trip because it is a great opportunity to see the justice system in action,” Mr. Baier said.  “We think the program provides a great combination of demonstrating what we learn about in class as well as making students thinking about cojnsequences and making good decisions.”

Ms. Padgett said the trips “went very well” and that she and Mr. Baier received positive feedback and comments from students.

Ms. Padgett said, “We want to thank the students for behaving appropriately and representing our school well.”