Students in history classes take field trip to federal courthouse

A diorama model of the federal building and the downtown St. Louis area.

Field trips are chances that students get to see what they are learning about in class in real-life, and on April 17,  students in Ms. Heather Lopez-Johnston’s Youth and Law class and students in Mr. Shaun Patrick’s Sociology class took a trip to the Thomas F. Eagleton United States Federal Courthouse downtown.

At the court house, they were not able to make it in time to see an actual case going on, but they were able to see and learn about what happens during a case, and they were able to meet with Judge Webber and see where his chambers (office) is located. They also were able to get hands-on experience in the courtroom. They got to sit in the jury box, sit in the witness stand, learn how the auditor works (the person who records what is said word-for-word and who take notes during a hearing) and how evidence is presented to the court room. They were also able to see where the judge sits and presides over the hearings.

The view from the appealing court room floor.

After they learned and got to experience the courtroom, they was able to see the appealing courtroom which is at the very top of the building. In the appeals courtroom, they learned about the procedure if a person decides to have an appeal on their case. If the court has accepted a case, they will have a certain amount of time to make their statements on why the previous judge was wrong for making their decision and have it heard by three judges instead. If 2 out of the 3 decide the first judgement was right and a person still feels like it’s wrong, they can make another appeal, but the only difference is it is very difficult to get approved for the 11-judge hearing to hold a case because they can only accept a few cases each year.

Lastly, the classes were able to meet a P.O. (a probation officer) and learn what he does in order to help newly released people from prison to help integrate them back into society. They also learned that P.O.s are not the bad guys like they appear to be on television shows, but instead are there to help keep the people on track and to keep an eye out, not only for them, but for the rest of community that they are around.

Junior Tresa Jackson who is enrolled in Patrick’s Sociology class said the best thing abut the field trip was the lunch.

“The thing I enjoyed the most about the field trip was the food because we got to eat at Maurizo’s and we were able to meet Judge Webber,” she said. “He was a very sweet person because he had this picture in his chambers of two past military men who fought in the Vietnam War but they didn’t make it out alive to see their daughter grow up so Judge Webber had two pictures of their little girls hanging right across the room. I thought that was very thoughtful of him to have that in his office.”