Law Day 2006
School Children Receive A Real Lesson In Law
By DENNIS PHILLIPS
A mock trial might have been staged at the Robert H. Jackson Center on Thursday, but a real lesson in the law was given to area pupils.
Area school children filled the Carl Cappa Auditorium to witness, participate and pass judgment during the center’s mock trial as the case’s final outcome was determined from a jury of the defendant’s own peers.
‘‘It’s not a real trial, but we’re trying to make it as real as possible,’’ said Robert Terreberry, Jackson Center Education Committee volunteer.
Local middle school pupils who participated in the mock trial, acting before an audience of third- through eighth-graders, included Kellen Fiore, Ryan Salemme, Patrick Salemme, Chad Muscarella, Courtney Abbott, Lynnsey Olson, Haley Kulakowski, Maria Sena and Bradley Anderson.
Terreberry directed the play with help from Joseph Gerace, retired State Supreme Court Justice, Kenneth Lasker, local attorney, and Kathleen Krauza, Chautauqua County commissioner of jurors and clerk of courts, who helped and participated in the mock trial about the American jury system.
Two Chautauqua Region Community Foundation funds, the Stanley A. Weeks/Robert H. Jackson Fund and the John Sember/Robert H. Jackson Center Law Day Fund, were used to pay for the play.
Sember, former middle school teacher and originator of Law Day events at the Jackson Center, died about a year ago with friends creating the fund in his name to assist with future programs.
‘‘The fund is named after a wonderful teacher who started this,’’ Terreberry said.
Other sponsors include the law firms of Bly, Sheffield, Bargar & Pillitieri; and Fessenden Laumer and DeAngelo.
The Jamestown Bar Association also will provide local attorneys to appear in classrooms in May to discuss law-related topics as part of its educational work. Teachers who want to have an attorney appear in their classrooms should call Lasker at 488-3090.
The Post-Journal
Friday, May 5, 2006
Vol. 179, No. 318
Section A, Pages 1 and 3