Quick look: Through workshops with judges and attorneys, local students explored real-world legal issues and potential careers in law at the 44th annual Law Day Conference, hosted by the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Orange County.
What happens if a college or employer uses your social media posts to make decisions about your future? Can a police dog sniff count as a search? What rights do renters have before signing their first lease?
Questions like these helped draw nearly 280 high school students from 43 public and private schools across Orange County to Chapman University over the weekend for the 44th annual Law Day Conference hosted by the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Orange County.
Held at the Chapman’s Dale E. Fowler School of Law, the daylong conference invited students to engage with judges, attorneys and legal scholars through interactive workshops on timely issues, offering a firsthand look at how the law shapes everyday life.
Students registered for the Feb. 28 event through CRF-OC’s website, with outreach to high school social science, English and government teachers across the county. The event also attracted aspiring legal eagles from CRF-OC’s Peer Court program and members of local mock trial teams.
“Law Day provides students with an opportunity to explore current and emerging areas of the law with experts in their fields who encourage student engagement and lively discussion,” said Marcy Garrett, program director for CRF-OC. “High school students explore topics that are typically found in law school lecture halls and spend the day critically thinking and grappling with ideas and legal premises.”
Workshops covered a range of issues affecting young people and their communities, including social media and free speech, renters’ rights, and constitutional limits on searches involving police K-9 units.
One session on careers in law included Lysa Saltzman from OCDE’s Legal Services unit. Another addressed human trafficking prevention and awareness, featuring Dr. Sandra Morgan of the Global Center for Women and Justice at Vanguard University, and Orange County Superior Court Judge Maria D. Hernandez. That panel discussed warning signs, prevention strategies and ways communities can work to protect vulnerable youth.
This year’s Law Day Conference was supported by a number of community partners and sponsors, including the OCBA Charitable Fund, Judicate West, Aitken Aitken Cohn, Fitzgerald Kreditor Bolduc Risbrough LLP, Rutan & Tucker LLP, and the Dale E. Fowler School of Law at Chapman University.