| For Immediate Release August 2nd, 2002 |
Contact: | Linda Le (714) 943-0238 |
High School Students Get 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 and 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 2nd Annual Summer Youth Education Program, which will give 15 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 Orange County Sheriff’s Department, Santa Ana Police Department, a courtroom and a judge’s chambers. The program will include educational workshops from a police investigator, a prosecutor, a public defender, community agencies and other criminal justice professionals. Students will be provided with a rare opportunity to visit these agencies and network with professionals.
The Government and Community Relations Unit will spearhead this event. District Attorney Tony Rackauckas created the unit in 1999 to form linkages with the immigrant community in order to provide information and education about the criminal justice system. Working with the youth population in more innovative ways has always been an emphasis for Rackauckas.
The program will begin at 8:30 a.m. Monday with welcoming remarks by the district attorney. After a week’s worth of activities totaling about 40 hours, the students will graduate. A ceremony will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Aug. 9. Organizations who have donated food to the program include Togo’s Great Sandwiches, The Carpi’s, Plaza Garibaldi and Rubio’s Baja Grill.