State Supreme Court justices share their wisdom with local students
MONTEREY — Lizeth Pena said she felt nervous as she approached the lectern and asked her prepared question to the justices of the Supreme Court of California.
Yet, at the same time, the Greenfield High senior realized she had a rare opportunity to address the justices directly and engage with the judicial system on a new level.
The justices were at Monterey’s Colton Hall Wednesday for a special session celebrating California’s 175th anniversary. They heard oral arguments about four cases and fielded questions from local high school students.
Pena asked Associate Justice Carol Corrigan how young people can get more engaged in understanding the judicial system.
“The law touches everything we do,” Corrigan said. “You might just decide that it’s really intriguing and interesting to you to be on the inside and be part of a system that can have so much impact on our lives.”
Corrigan urged students to engage more with local civics, such as attending outreach sessions or inviting legal professionals to speak at their school.
The special session was a part of the Supreme Court of California’s annual outreach sessions, held to educate and engage students with the California judicial process, as well as a larger celebration of California’s 175th anniversary in Monterey throughout October.
Students asked questions of the justices about their careers in law, important skills for judges to have and how they remain objective in their rulings.
When Anahi Hernandez, a senior at Greenfield, asked Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero what lessons the court can learn about maintaining public trust, Guerrero said civic education – both inside the classroom and within the community – is one of the best ways to build a deeper understanding of how the judicial process works and therefore understand how decisions are made.
“Some people are losing hope, I have hope still for our country and the judicial branch,” Guerrero said. “The reason is because of all of you here in this room.”
The room – lit only by sunlight and battery-operated candles – was packed with around 50 students, public servants and other Monterey community members. Two overflow rooms were provided to accommodate viewers alongside the session’s live broadcast.
Attendees heard arguments about an appeal for a previously ruled death sentence, what constitutes one or multiple strikes under California’s Three Strikes law, a review of funding concerns for pension obligation bonds, and whether a defendant’s ability to pay should impact fines.
Celestino Reyes, another senior at Greenfield, said he found the session to be more engaging than he expected.
“It was nice seeing both sides argue and counter-argue with each other,” Reyes said. “I thought it would be boring at first, but it’s actually more interesting and it’s more filled with emotion too.”
During the session, Pena said she felt more emotion from seeing the court in person than she anticipated. She said the death sentence appeal, an Alameda County murder case originally ruled on in 2007, elicited the most emotion as she listened to both sides argue their cases.
The Supreme Court of California was created during the first constitutional convention in Colton Hall, said Brian Edwards, library and museums director for the City of Monterey, so having the court return to Colton Hall was a reflection of its history.
Edwards, who helped organize the session, said he was pleased with both the student turnout and with online viewership.
Seeing a court operate in person was eye-opening to many viewers, Edwards added. Some people may have only had experience with the legal system through television and movies, he said, so getting to view how a court actually interacts helped viewers see how a legal system actually works.
“I think it’s really insightful for people to see how our system works,” Edwards said. “I appreciate seeing the community out there and seeing the youth out there being involved in the process.”
