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Students look in on the courts at work

A group of high school students celebrates Law Day by observing arguments before appellate judges and visiting the Historic Courthouse.

By ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published May 5, 2005

INVERNESS - Shana Roopani and Aditi Shukla usually spend Wednesday mornings at Crystal River High School, where they are finishing their senior year.

But on Wednesday they left the classroom to learn a bit about the legal system as part of Law Day, a national day established in 1958 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to celebrate the rule of law.

Roopani, 18, Shukla, 17, and their classmates from Crystal River joined students from Lecanto and Citrus high schools at the Citrus County Courthouse to watch judges from the 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach hear arguments on two cases.

The girls had mixed reactions.

"(The lawyers) both had really good points," Roopani said. Both agreed it got tedious at times listening to the attorneys.

The best part, they said, was the judges, who asked the attorneys a lot of questions during the hearings and then took students' questions afterward.

"They were really nice to us," Shukla said.

Neither plans to study law in college. Roopani plans to study hospitality management and Shukla hasn't decided on a major.

"For me, I used to want to be a lawyer, but I think the field is flooded," Shukla said. "There are too many lawyers."

But both have enjoyed their law studies class, an elective course taught by Billy Bass.

After watching the appeals court, the students headed to the Historic Courthouse, where they looked at court documents from the past. Three students received $1,000 college scholarships from the Citrus County Bar Association. The winners: Tiffany Waters of Crystal River High School, Randi Shaw, of Citrus High School and Jordan Davis of Lecanto High School.

The official day scheduled for Law Day across the country is May 1, but state and local bar associations can chose any day to designate as Law Day, according to the American Bar Association. This year's theme is "The American Jury: We the People in Action," an effort to recognize the importance of the jury in the American legal process.

[Last modified May 5, 2005, 01:27:18]