Chapter Participates in “Teen Discourse and Decisions” Programs
Last October, the District Court along with our chapter held the first Teen Discourse and Decisions (TD Squared) events in the Southern District of Florida. U.S. District Judge Robin L. Rosenberg and U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom have been the driving forces behind the creation and implementation of these events in our District.
On October 12, 2017, over 40 students from Palm Beach Lakes High School arrived early to the Paul G. Rogers U.S. Courthouse in West Palm Beach where they learned about the judge’s courtroom and about how various members of the FBA became lawyers and why they did so. The program transitioned to selecting students for their various roles for the upcoming event, and then a discussion on civil discourse. Students were assigned roles as attorneys, jurors, a courtroom deputy, and a courtroom security officer.
The framework of the argument to be made was based on Elonis v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 2001 (2015), a First Amendment matter. The students were given a modified version of Elonis concerning a teenager’s Facebook postings, and the parties were tasked with arguing whether the First Amendment protected his postings.
After consulting with their attorney coaches, the student attorneys for each side argued three sub-issues, fielded questions from Judge Rosenberg, and gave a closing argument. A lively jury deliberation followed.
As part of the proceedings, Judge Rosenberg also reviewed a “reality checklist” with the students. This checklist presented the students with real-life situations that, if the wrong choice was made, could affect them for the rest of their lives. Judge Rosenberg encouraged the students to make the right choices and used the discussion to guide lessons on how to foster civil discourse.
On October 13, 2017, about 60 students from Fort Pierce Central High School and Westwood High School arrived at the Alto Lee Adams, Sr. U.S. Courthouse in Fort Pierce to participate in the TD Squared program. Judge Rosenberg led one group of students through the exercise. Another group of students were led by U.S. Magistrate Judge Shaniek Maynard.
Thanks to our local high schools for coordinating and attending and thanks to Judges Bloom, Maynard, and Rosenberg, and their clerks and staff, for making the rollout of this program a success. The reviews from each of these events were extremely positive. Since these programs occurred, similar events have been held in Fort Lauderdale and Miami by our sister chapters.
Our sincere thanks to all our attorney volunteers that made these programs possible.
West Palm Beach
Derek Harris (facilitator)
Paul Avron (attorney coach)
Ashley Drumm (attorney coach)
Jessica Rodriguez (attorney coach)
Jennifer Soberal (attorney coach)
Garth Yearick (liaison and organizer)
Fort Pierce
Panayotta Augustin-Birch (liaison and organizer)
Daniel Funk (facilitator)
Fletcher Peacock (facilitator)
Diana Acosta (attorney coach)
Marton Gyres (attorney coach)
Andrew Kwan (attorney coach)
Valencia Stubbs (attorney coach)
KeAndria Davis (volunteer)
Additional information and resources on this program can be found on the uscourts.gov website at this link.