Justice Teaching: Reaching Florida’s Students One School at a Time
State and national surveys frequently suggest that Americans in general know little about the operations of the American justice system, and they do not understand the basic principles underlying our constitutional institutions and structures.
With this in mind, a major effort has been galvanized to further law-related education in the State of Florida. The name of the effort: Justice Teaching. The brainchild of Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice R. Fred Lewis, the ultimate goal of Justice Teaching is to pair a legal professional (judge, lawyer, or other law-related professional) with every elementary, middle, and high school in the state of Florida.
These professionals, who will serve as Justice Teaching Resources, will be available to the schools to help with classroom visits, teacher conferences, in-service training, and other law-related education needs.
The program aims to benefit students in the following ways: promote an understanding of Florida’s justice system and our laws, develop critical thinking abilities and problem solving skills, and demonstrate the effective interaction of our courts within the constitutional structure.
The Justice Teaching structure is based on the geographic structure of Florida’s State Courts System. To that end, there are five regions based on the five judicial districts in Florida. The geographic layout of the districts is as follows: District 1 (North Florida), District 2 (West-central Florida), District 3 (Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties), District 4 (Palm Beach and Broward Counties), and District 5 (East-central Florida). The Program will be further divided into the circuits and counties that make up those districts.
Justice Teaching will be governed by the Select Committee on Justice Teaching. Appointed by the Chief Justice, the members of the Select Committee consist of judge representatives from each of Florida’s five judicial districts and twenty judicial circuits. In addition, the Select Committee membership includes representatives of The Florida Bar, the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, and the Florida Law Related Education Association. The District Court of Appeal judge from each of the five districts will serve as the lead contact for that region.
The members of the Select Committee on Justice Teaching are as follows, and the lead regional contacts are noted in bold:
Chief Justice R. Fred Lewis, Chair
Supreme Court of Florida
The Honorable Philip J. Padovano
First District Court of Appeal
The Honorable Morris Silberman
Second District Court of Appeal
The Honorable Linda Ann Wells
Third District Court of Appeal
The Honorable Fred A. Hazouri
Fourth District Court of Appeal
The Honorable Thomas D. Sawaya
Fifth District Court of Appeal
The Honorable T. Michael Jones
First Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Janet E. Ferris
Second Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Leandra G. Johnson
Third Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Karen K. Cole
Fourth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Stephen Spivey
Fifth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Nelly N. Khouzam
Sixth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Shawn L. Briese
Seventh Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Victor L. Hulslander
Eighth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Faye Allen
Ninth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Ralph Artigliere
Tenth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Michael A. Genden
Eleventh Judicial Circuit
The Honorable K. Douglas Henderson
Twelfth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Raul C. Palomino, Jr.
Thirteenth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Jim Fensom
Fourteenth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Kathleen J. Kroll
Fifteenth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Wayne M. Miller
Sixteenth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable David H. Krathen
Seventeenth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable Lisa Davidson
Eighteenth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable William L. Roby
Nineteenth Judicial Circuit
The Honorable John S. Carlin
Twentieth Judicial Circuit
Mr. Bill Montford
Chief Executive Officer
Florida Association of District School Superintendents
Ms. Annette Boyd Pitts
Executive Director
Florida Law-Related Education Association
Mr. Henry M. Coxe, III
President, The Florida Bar
Mr. Francisco R. Angones
President-Elect, The Florida Bar
Mr. Alan Bookman
Immediate Past President, The Florida Bar
For more information on Justice Teaching, please go to the following website:
www.justiceteaching.com
To sign up to be a Justice Teaching Resource:
Go to www.justiceteaching.com
Click on Volunteer link for Florida Bar Members
Click on link to Justice Teaching Volunteer form
To speak to someone about Justice Teaching, please contact one of the following individuals:
Valencia Davis
Law Related Education and Outreach Coordinator
Supreme Court of Florida
(850) 414-6106
Annette Boyd Pitts
Executive Director
Florida Law Related Education Association
(850) 386-8223