A profession for the new millennium: restoring public trust and confidence in our system justice.

At least once a millennium, it would seem worthwhile to reexamine why we entered the legal profession. Did we want to make a difference or just earn a living? Maybe both? To the extent we sought to make a difference, there are many ways that we, as lawyers and judges, are able to do so. One of the simplest and most important ways is to pay a visit to schools to educate students on the Constitution, the rule of law, and the justice system--not just in theory, but in practice.

A September 1999 Florida Bar poll revealed that "[a]n overwhelming majority of lawyers and virtually all judges ... still say the public does not have confidence in the legal system."(1) Is public trust and confidence lacking because our system of justice does not meet the public's needs, or does the public not understand how our system of justice operates? The answer to this question is not simple. It is, however, encouraging to learn that the American Bar Association's comprehensive nationwide survey on the U.S. justice system conducted in 1998 found that the more knowledge people have about the justice system, the greater their confidence in the justice system overall.(2) This has been substantiated by other studies.(3)

Rebuilding public trust and confidence in the legal system begins first and foremost with education. We have always known that our system of democracy requires an educated electorate. An educated citizenry is the best protection for an independent judiciary. As Thomas Jefferson expressed more pointedly: "If a Nation expects to be ignorant and free, it expects what never was and never will be."

As members of the judiciary and the legal profession, we bear a special responsibility to improve the public's understanding of our system of justice. Research has demonstrated that effective use of lawyers and judges in the classroom is critical to the successful impact of law-related education. The recent American Bar Association survey revealed that 75 percent of the respondents who wished to learn more about the justice system stated that they wanted the information to come directly from current or retired judges.(4)

There are additional benefits to judicial participation in such activities. As ABA President Philip S. Anderson stated, "Judges must correct the notion that they are isolated and remote or it will have a corrosive effect on the relationship between the courts and the public."(5) Judicial independence should not translate into judicial isolation.

Indeed, judges are encouraged to participate in activities that heighten the public's understanding of our justice system. A key goal, for example, of the long range plan for the Florida judicial branch is that the judiciary should educate the public as to the functioning of our courts. Strategies to accomplish these goals include this statement: "Enhance outreach to all levels of educational institutions to improve public understanding of the judicial system."(6)

Lawyers and judges have always visited schools as part of Law Week. However, our involvement must not start and end with Law Week. The challenge for judges and lawyers is to captivate students' interest while teaching about our legal system and the protection afforded citizens by an independent judiciary. This goes beyond traditional speeches and lectures to more active, hands-on participation.

One of the most rewarding aspects of my time on the Supreme Court has been my personal visits to various schools. With the help of The Florida Law Related Education Association, Inc. (FLREA), I have learned to interact with students in a meaningful way to teach about our justice system. Judges have access to classroom activities and training opportunities through FLREA. A resource guide, Justice is Served!, has been developed by FLREA and the Supreme Court of Florida. The guide is updated annually with new law-related lessons and distributed to all Florida judges. Training programs for lawyers have been offered through The Florida Bar Speakers Bureau and to the appellate judges at their annual conference last fall.

Public schools today are quite different than when I was in high school. Some schools are real laboratories for learning about our legal system with courtrooms, forensic labs, and law libraries on campus. My initial visit to Palm Beach Lakes Community High School Law Academy helped me to realize the tremendous opportunity for judicial involvement. When classes are not being conducted, the local courts utilize the courtroom on the school's campus to hear real county court cases. I know that lawyers and judges in many communities have become involved in helping to begin law magnet schools.

However, we must become involved with a wide range of schools and a wide range of age groups. While it may seem difficult to interact with elementary-age children, one successful approach with elementary students is to begin discussing the relationship between rules (at home or in the classroom) and laws. Concepts such as justice and equality can be demonstrated in elementary terms using examples of fairness.

At the high school level, judges and lawyers, working as a team, can assist with mock trials, moot court presentations, constitutional rights exercises, or any number of law-related activities. High school students are filled with questions and generally the answers to their inquiries are coming from television. Consider not only a visit to a classroom but also an invitation into your courtrooms and an involvment of lawyers to assist the judiciary in a meaningful hands-on teaching experience.

Our legal system has inherited many problems over the years, including declining trust and confidence and negative perception by the public. Television portrayals at times make a mockery of our justice system--either purposely, or because of a true lack of understanding about how our law and legal processes work. In fact, sometimes the television shows featuring "real" judges do no better in improving public perception. Nonetheless, it is important to note that what our children see on television may ultimately impact their perception of our justice system. Indeed, a seven-year-old who submitted an essay for the Supreme Court's Law Week contest last year wrote, "The judges I know in real life are nice and kind and fair, but the judges I see on television (Judge Judy and others) are mean and disrespectful. I'm afraid people will think all judges are like the ones on television." It is thus incumbent upon judges to become involved in law-related education to reveal our humanity and to demonstrate how justice is really administered in our country.

I have many visions as we enter this millennium. I see a profession that is more resilient and more involved with our community. This does not mean ignoring the core principles that make our system of justice the greatest system in the world; rather, it recognizes that as we enter the next century, there are unprecedented challenges that require innovative approaches and dedication of time and resources. We often state that our children are our greatest resource. Part of my vision is that lawyers and judges will help cultivate this precious resource, not only in addressing the full panoply of children's legal needs, but also in working to provide educational outreach and understanding to the next generation of citizens.

I started this article with the basic question of whether public trust and confidence is lacking because the public does not understand how our system of justice operates, or because our system of justice does not always meet the public's needs. The answer is that both have contributed to that lack of confidence. Accordingly, we must educate our students and citizens on the importance of what we do and the critical importance of an independent judiciary. At the same time, we must also explore how we can better serve our citizens and deliver justice.

While there is no simple answer to the task of restoring public trust and confidence, each of you can make an important difference. Restoration of public trust and confidence will not occur overnight. However, if each of us does our part to reach out to our community, to teach a class, to mentor a child, to treat each other and our clients with respect, we will begin to do our part to restore our trust and confidence in one another and the public's trust and confidence in our profession. So while many of you may be averse to making New Year's resolutions, this is a perfect time for at least one simple new millennium resolution.

(1) Mark D. Killian, Career Satisfaction Shows Dramatic Rise, FLA. B. NEWS, Sept. 15, 1999, at 1.

(2) Perceptions of the U.S Justice System. American Bar Association nationwide survey on the U.S. justice system. Findings discussed at Symposium II: Public Understanding and Perceptions of the American Justice System (Feb. 1999).

(3) Herbert M. Kritzer and John Voelker, Familiarity Breeds Respect: How Wisconsin Citizens View Their Courts, 82 JUDICATURE 58 (Sept./Oct. 1998).

(4) Perceptions of the U.S Justice System, supra note 2.

(5) Philip S. Anderson, Learning to Educate the Public, A.B.A. J., July 1999, at 6.

(6) Long-Range Strategic Plan for the Judicial Branch, 5.2(b).

Justice Barbara J. Pariente was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court in 1997, after having served as an appellate court judge since 1993. After graduation from George Washington Law School, she clerked for a federal district court judge and then went into private practice in West Palm Beach, where she was a founding member of the area chapter of the American Inns of Court. Justice Pariente is Supreme Court liaison for the Family Court Steering Committee and the Drug Court Steering Committee and has been a mentor for economically disadvantaged students and a volunteer judge for youth court.