Through Discovering Justice Field Trips, students receive hands-on experience in examining the workings of the justice system and exploring the ideals of justice.

The Field Trips, led by Courthouse Program Associate Kiara Batista, provide a guided tour of the Moakley Courthouse, a meeting with a judge, and an opportunity to watch a court proceeding for Grades 8 and up, or to participate in a courtroom activity for younger grades.

Discovering Justice Fellows engage in meaningful work from their first day on the job. Whether working directly with the Mock Trial Program Manager to plan eleven courthouse events across Massachusetts, or developing an outreach and advocacy campaign to encourage public officials to invest in civic education, Fellows have a tangible impact on civic education across the Commonwealth.

Applications for the five-month Spring Fellowship Program are being accepted through January 27th. Fellowships run from February through June and full-time Fellows receive a $4,500 stipend. The Fellowship is a great opportunity for a recent college graduate or an undergraduate taking a gap term or is participating in a co-op program.

This Spring, Discovering Justice is hiring for the following Fellowships:

• Civic Education Organizing and Advocacy
• Courthouse Programs – Field Trips and Tours
• Development and Gala Event Planning
• Mock Appeal Program

You can read more about the Fellowships here. Applicants can send a resume and cover letter to Malia Brooks at careers@discoveringjustice.org.

A record number of 29 middle school teams presented their Fourth Amendment cases at Discovering Justice’s Mock Trial events this past week, arguing the complicated line between personal privacy and public safety.

In a six-day stretch, Discovering Justice hosted in-person events in ten Massachusetts cities (and the organization’s first out-of-state team from Providence) before juries of community members as well as presiding federal and state judges. The events welcomed more than 350 students, 130 legal mentors, 29 judges, 32 teacher coordinators, and more than 300 jurors into the eleven different courthouses.

Mock Trial night at the Moakley Courthouse featured eleven mock trials with students from Boston, Brookline, Medford, and Waltham and more than 400 attendees, including many proud family members.

If you could add an amendment to the Bill of Rights, what right would you protect and why?

The U.S. District Court for the District Court of Massachusetts, Discovering Justice, and the Massachusetts Chapter of the Federal Bar Association encourage high school students in Boston, Worcester, and Springfield to participate in their annual Bill of Rights Student Essay Contest.

The essay contest asks Boston, Worcester, and Springfield high school students to answer this question in 550 words or less, “If you could add an amendment to the Bill of Rights, what right would you protect and why?”

A panel of federal judges will select the top essays and award cash prizes totaling $1,000 for first, second, and third place.

The Fourth Amendment protects our rights against unreasonable searches and seizures. Yet, many students are unaware of their rights against these unreasonable searches and seizures in their school.

Discovering Justice’s panel event on November 22nd, Know Your Rights: Student 4th Amendment Privacy in Schools, provided students with the opportunity to learn from legal experts about their rights.

• Judge Jay Blitzman – Former justice of the Massachusetts Juvenile Court and Public Defender
• Charity Kruzel – Attorney in Charge for the Committee for Public Counsel Services’ Springfield Youth Advocacy Division
• Mary Landergan – Adjunct Professor at Northeastern University School of Law 

America holds 80% of the jury trials in the world, yet less than 5% of cases in the judicial system go to a jury trial. How did we get here? Is having this low percentage of cases where the American judicial system should be?

These were some of the questions panelists took on during Discovering Justice’s November 14th Courthouse event Trial by Jury: Does the American Jury System Bring About Justice?

Moderated by Discovering Justice Executive Director Matt Wilson, the panel hosted Senior United States District Judge, the Honorable William G. Young, Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School Dehlia Umunna, Former Federal Public Defender for Massachusetts, Miriam Conrad, and Assistant United States Attorney Dustin Chao.