Fifteen Boston public high school students who completed seven weeks of court and legal educational training in the Supreme Judicial Court's Judicial Youth Corps program began summer internships in the Massachusetts court system on July 7.
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| Photo courtesy of the Public Information Office of the Supreme Judicial Court |
| Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall and Justice Roderick L. Ireland (center) meet with the students of the 2003 Judicial Youth Corps in the Thorndike Library of the Supreme Judicial Court. Also with the students are Judicial Youth Corps Teacher and Another Course to College Director Jerry Howland (third from left) and Judicial Youth Corps Program Coordinator Vanessa Scott-Brown (fourth from left). |
With the support of private donors, the Boston Private Industry Council will pay for the students' seven-week summer internships, in which students learn about the role of the judicial branch and work under the supervision of clerks, probation officers and other administrators in Boston area courts. On Fridays, the students will continue their educational sessions taught by judges, lawyers and court staff who volunteer their time to help demystify the court system.
Designed for urban high school students, the Judicial Youth Corps program was first established by the Supreme Judicial Court's Public Information Office in 1991, the year the program won a community partnership award from the American Bar Association.
The four-month program consists of two educational components: a seven-week orientation to the court system held in May and June and a seven-week courthouse internship session in July and August. Approximately 500 students from Boston, Worcester and Springfield have successfully completed the Supreme Judicial Youth Corps program. Now in its 13th year, the Judicial Youth Corps has served as a model for several other law-related educational programs in Massachusetts.