Courts across Wisconsin celebrate Law Day

On May 1, courts across Wisconsin celebrated Law Day by inviting schoolchildren and other members of the community into the courthouse for a variety of activities. A number of lawyers and judges also visited local schools.

Law Day in Washburn packed the courtroom with local high school students who learned about the anatomy of a trial.

Winners of the Jefferson County Law Day Essay Contest pose in court with Judge William F. Hue, who led the effort to organize events that brought more than 300 children to the courthouse on May 1.

The Jefferson County Law Day Committee poses with a few of the local attorneys and Sheriff's Department employees who helped organize one of the state's biggest Law Day celebrations. Photo credit: Daily Jefferson County Union, Ryan Whisner

The 2009 Law Day theme, as set by the American Bar Association, was "A Legacy of Liberty." This celebrates the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, regarded as one of the nation's greatest presidents, and a man whose background as a lawyer informed and shaped his decision making.

At the top of the state, in Bayfield County, members of the Teen Court presented a mock jury trial to an audience of 80 local high school students. The students acting as prosecutor (Brea Abeles-Allison and Jared Day) and defense counsel (Enrique Franco and Riley Shields) were coached by District Atty. H. Craig Haukaas,while Judge John P. Anderson presided and Clerk of Circuit Court Kay Cederberg played herself. Teen Court member Kelly Carlson was the defendant, and Caleb Bakker was the victim. Teen Court Supervisor Ian Meeker, who works for the UW Extension, helped to organize the event and cooked and served lunch to all students and instructors who participated.

"This was the seventh year we presented mock jury trials to the high school students for Law Day celebrations," Cederberg wrote. "They are enjoyed by the court staff as much as by the students!"

At the other end of the state, as reported in the Daily Jefferson County Union, more than 300 fourth- and fifth-grade students from the Jefferson County area toured the Jefferson County Courthouse and the jail, met the SWAT Team, watched a mock trial, participated in a poster contest, learned about the Sheriff's Department Dive Team and observed a demonstration with the K-9 unit.

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