For Immediate Release
August 1st, 2001
Contact: Rocio G. Gonzalez (714) 347-8414
High School Students Get an Up-Close View of Legal System in Weeklong Course
SANTA ANA— High school students will find out what it’s like to be a prosecutor, defense attorney, detective or judge next week when they attend a weeklong program that takes them behind the scenes of the judicial system.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office will be hosting its first annual Summer Youth Education Program, which will give 20 local high school students interaction with criminal justice professionals and various law enforcement agencies. This event was designed to provide its participants with an informative view of the path and progress of a criminal case. Students selected to participate in the program exhibited a great interest in learning more about the legal system and its role in the community.
The participants will have an opportunity to visit the Santa Ana Police Department, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, a courtroom and a judge’s chambers. The program will include educational workshops from a police investigator, a prosecutor, a public defender and other criminal justice professionals. Students will be provided with a rare opportunity to visit these agencies and network with professionals.
The program will begin at 10 a.m. Monday with welcoming remarks by District Attorney Tony Rackauckas. After a week’s worth of activities (35 hours) the students will graduate in a ceremony at 11:45 a.m. on Aug. 10. Organizations who have donated food to the program include the Coca-Cola Company and their Orange County Street Team, Papa John’s Pizza, El Pollo Loco Corporation, Orange County Sheriff’s Association, Togo’s Otto Screen Printing, and Rubio’s Restaurants, Inc.