WASHINGTON, DC (August 22, 2008)—Thirty-two teachers from around the country attended a five-day seminar this week led by retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. The seminar, entitled “The American Judiciary,” was held at Georgetown Law in Washington, DC, and was organized by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History in partnership with the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands, and the Sandra Day O’Connor Project on the State of the Judiciary at Georgetown Law. Justice O’Connor, along with legal scholars A.E. Dick Howard, Jack Rakove, and Viet Dinh, examined the history of the judiciary from the origins of its authority in the Constitution through contemporary issues addressed by the Supreme Court. Justice O’Connor spoke candidly about her long career on the Supreme Court, answering questions from teachers and discussing a range of constitutional issues.

Teachers attending the seminar were selected from more than a thousand applicants and included History Teacher of the Year award winners from South Dakota and Louisiana. Participants also discussed classroom strategies for judiciary-related teaching. “The courts’ decisions impact students’ lives daily—think about all the issues it encompasses, from free speech to the right to privacy and due process,” said University of Virginia Law professor and seminar leader A.E. Dick Howard.

“We are pleased that Georgetown Law’s Supreme Court moot courtroom was chosen as the site for this important program to educate high school students about the history of the Supreme Court,” said Meryl Chertoff, Director of the Sandra Day O’Connor Project on the State of the Judiciary at Georgetown Law. “Just a short walk from the Court itself, the moot courtroom was in 2006 used to prepare counsel for argument in 90% of the cases that Term. Now our law school has been able to extend its reach to the wonderful high school teachers brought here by the Gilder Lehrman Institute. Through them, Justice O’Connor will touch a new generation of young people with the civics education message which is at the heart of the mission of her Project here at Georgetown Law.”

Founded in 1994, the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History promotes the study and love of American history. The Institute serves teachers, students, scholars, and the general public. The Institute’s seminars are designed to strengthen educators' commitment to high quality history teaching. Public, parochial and independent school teachers are eligible to apply. These week-long seminars provide intellectual stimulation and a collaborative context for developing practical resources and strategies to take back to the classroom. Over the past thirteen years, more than 6,000 educators have participated. This year, more than 900 participants from 49 states and 6 foreign countries will take part in one of thirty-two different seminars held in the United States and England.

The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands was established in 2001 by the Annenberg Foundation to advance public understanding of and appreciation for democracy and to address serious issues facing the country and the world. Among the goals of the Sunnylands Trust is improving civics education and understanding of democratic institutions. In furtherance of that mission, the Trust creates and distributes print, online and video materials on the Constitution to provide schools and institutions with high-quality programs at no-cost for use around Constitution Day in September and beyond. All Sunnylands Constitution Project videos are available to stream on the Annenberg Classroom website (www.AnnenbergClassroom.org) along with lesson plans and other educational materials that supplement each video.

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