SLC Teachers Participate in Supreme Court Justice Institute

Stephanie Isaacs, 7th Grade Civics Teacher at St. Lucie West K-8 School, and Anne Powell, 7th Grade Civics Teacher at Forest Grove Middle School, were two of 25 teachers selected from throughout Florida to attend the Supreme Court of Florida’s Justice Teaching Institute March 22-26 to learn about the state courts using a case study method. Teacher participants explored the courts and the Constitution in a four-and-a-half-day program with all seven justices serving as faculty. The Florida Law Related Education Association, Inc., coordinated the program and provided instructional assistance. This year’s emphasis was on examining the structure and function of the state courts, motion to suppress hearings, Miranda warnings and the assistance of legal counsel, among other law related topics. They also participated in a simulated appellate hearing serving as justices and attorneys to reenact a mock oral argument. Judge Karen Cole from the Fourth Judicial Circuit and Judge Kelly McKibben from the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit served as mentor judges and assisted the teachers in dissecting the material throughout the week. At the conclusion of the institute, teachers observed actual oral arguments before the Supreme Court, and attended a banquet held in their honor, together with the justices, at Florida State University in Tallahassee.