Last night, we went to the San Mateo County Courthouse for an evening of mock trials. After spending the day listening to all kinds of legal situations and issues, it was fun to see some of the things we heard put into practice. Literally.
The courthouse itself is beautiful. Built in 1908 it has survived many a shake up (again, literally). It's dome with beautiful stained glass is particularly striking, inside and out, especially after it got dark.
The trial I attended (there were four to choose from) was presided over by a feisty county judge from Florida (Tallahasee) who had given an outstanding presentation earlier in the day. She sees a lot of young people in her courtroom and helped institute a drug court that gets young people into rehab rather than jail as first-time offenders. Her mercy and grace approach to her work was inspiring.
The evening's situation involved a youth pastor who misused his time with a 17 year old youth group member. The lawyers were actual lawyers in their real life, but the rest of the participants were playing roles unfamiliar to them (clerk, jurors, plaintiffs, defendants, etc.).
It was an interesting and, at times, amusing evening. A couple of times the situation caused the judge to break up (a la Carson in his skits), which, in turn, cause laughter and/or applause in the audience. The actual case, of course, was not laughable though, and we learned a lot despite the occasional levity.
Last night, we went to the San Mateo County Courthouse for an evening of mock trials. After spending the day listening to all kinds of legal situations and issues, it was fun to see some of the things we heard put into practice. Literally.
The courthouse itself is beautiful. Built in 1908 it has survived many a shake up (again, literally). It's dome with beautiful stained glass is particularly striking, inside and out, especially after it got dark.
The trial I attended (there were four to choose from) was presided over by a feisty county judge from Florida (Tallahasee) who had given an outstanding presentation earlier in the day. She sees a lot of young people in her courtroom and helped institute a drug court that gets young people into rehab rather than jail as first-time offenders. Her mercy and grace approach to her work was inspiring.
The evening's situation involved a youth pastor who misused his time with a 17 year old youth group member. The lawyers were actual lawyers in their real life, but the rest of the participants were playing roles unfamiliar to them (clerk, jurors, plaintiffs, defendants, etc.).
It was an interesting and, at times, amusing evening. A couple of times the situation caused the judge to break up (a la Carson in his skits), which, in turn, cause laughter and/or applause in the audience. The actual case, of course, was not laughable though, and we learned a lot despite the occasional levity.
2 comments:
:) just stopping by!
This is definitely an example of role playing. What a creative way to apply what you've learned in "real life" situations. True, serious stuff, but still creative application.
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