Constitution Day was a success

On September 17, I had the privilege of teaching at the Slauson Junior High sixth grade in Ann Arbor, for Constitution Day. Our curriculum was on the right to jury trial, and how juries are selected. The class selected a jury using both preemptory and for cause strikes of jurors described in our class materials. The following week, I received letters from Mrs. McGinn's sixth-grade class with reactions and comments. They include: "The thing I love most was when we got to argue against the other side to keep the accused out of jail"; "The authentic role play of a trial at court led me to decide I definitely want to be a lawyer;" "I learned the jury decides and not the judge;" "I learned that solving a problem is very hard and it will be very stressful for the jury to solve problems;" and, "I learned you can't just pick anybody to be a juror you have to find out if they were involved in a crime or if they might have an opinion and can't be part of the jury." I am sure my experience was similar to other lawyers who filled 152 class slots this year in talking to students in 6th through 11th grade. I recommend it to anyone next year. Sincerely, Andrew S. Muth, Muth Law, Ypsilanti Published: Thu, Nov 06, 2014