June 23 , 2017

The University of Illinois College of Law hosted a demonstration of an appellate oral argument on Thursday, June 22, 2017, for a group of 20 educators from 19 nations.

Supreme Court Justice Rita B. Garman presided and Fourth District Appellate Court Justices Lisa Holder White and Thomas M. Harris were on the panel. First amendment and due process arguments were presented by recent College of Law graduates Katie Campbell, Zachary Clark, and Greg Dickinson, and third-year law student Jani Mikel. The case involved a high school student who was suspended from school for violations of the dress code.

The presentation was part of the 2017 Global Institute for Secondary Educators, a joint program of the U.S. State Department and the University of Illinois Center for Global Studies. Each year, 20 secondary educators from around the globe participate in an intensive six-week program that involves an interdisciplinary examination of American culture and society. They return to their home countries with the resources to create their own curriculum for a course on American Studies.

The presentation was arranged by Justice Garman’s senior law clerk, Janice Farrell Pea, who is a member of the law school’s adjunct faculty, and Dr. Jeffrey Friedman, the Academic Director of the Institute. Earlier in the week, Professor Pea conducted a seminar for the group titled “Private v. Public Dreams: Reconciling Individualism with National Interest in America,” which focused on the Bill of Rights and how the judicial process addresses tensions between individual autonomy and the common good. In addition, a panel consisting of Circuit Judge Heidi Ladd and retired Circuit Judge Arnold Blockman of the Sixth Circuit and Professor Pea led a discussion of legal issues involving family law, juvenile justice, and criminal law.