Packing overnight bags and preparing cases to be heard in front of hundreds of college and high school students has become an annual ritual for Court of Appeals judges each September. But not in 2020. During the pandemic, the Court’s annual celebration of Constitution Day may have been upended, but it is strong as ever.  

The judges of the Nebraska Court of Appeals have, for the past several years, used their College Campus Initiative as a vehicle to celebrate Constitution Day. The outreach project will take on a new look for 2020 with the students of Doane University’s “Law, Politics, and Society” class. Prof. Sara Houston and her students will be watching the Court’s September 9 and 10 argument sessions online. The class will gather via Zoom with the presiding judges of each day’s panel to discuss the court arguments on September 17, Constitution Day. 

In preparation, students will be given the full set of resource materials for review, including all case briefs, the Guide to Oral Argument in Front of the Nebraska Court of Appeals, and the Citizen’s Guide to the Nebraska Appellate Courts. 

In addition to the Law and Politics class, various law-focused students from upper levels will engage in the virtual visit with Presiding Judges Frankie Moore and Francie Riedmann.

In confirming arrangements, Houston noted, “This seems like a good COVID-conscious alternative that still maintains the spirit of Constitution Day.”

Program background for non-pandemic times 
The Court’s standard program involves judges traveling to a Nebraska college to hold on-campus arguments during the day. During the early evening, Court of Appeals judges meet with local attorneys and area judges for a Constitution Day celebration. The highlight of the daytime event is often the question and answer session with students following the arguments. The highlight of the evening meeting with lawyers and judges is the constitutional quiz session where candy bars are awarded to the first attorney to correctly answer a question from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services exam. Although the travel and candy prizes are on hold for 2020, the encouragement of learning about the U. S. Constitution is not.