Enriching Student Understanding of Trial Courts through Service Learning

This article describes a service learning program developed through a partnership between John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the New York Office of Court Administration and a New York court reform organization under which John Jay College students serve as court monitors of local criminal courts, and judges and court administrators come to the classroom as guest speakers. The program enriches students’ understanding of the courts beyond academic descriptions of judicial processes and increases their sense of civic responsibility. From the courts’ perspective the program serves as an important judicial outreach initiative to increase public confidence in their operation. Beyond addressing the program and the students’ reaction to it, the article provides guidance for replicating the program in other communities.