Pubdate: Fri, 03 Feb 2006
Source: Ledger, The (FL)
Copyright: 2006 The Ledger
Contact:  http://www.theledger.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/795
Author: Gabrielle Finley, The Ledger
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/testing.htm (Drug Testing)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States)

JUSTICE LAYS DOWN THE LAW FOR CLASS

LAKELAND -- Students at Kathleen High School's Criminal Justice, Law 
and Career Academy on Thursday received an interactive lesson in the 
U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment.

The teacher: Florida Supreme Court Justice Fred Lewis.

Using his years of legal experience -- and a mock trial and appeal -- 
Lewis demonstrated the difficulties of interpreting the amendment, 
which bars unlawful search and seizure by the government.

And he showed how its protection is relevant even in the lives of 
high school students.

"A high school baseball player urinating in a cup for drug testing, 
is that (an issue) under the Fourth Amendment?" Lewis asked the class 
Thursday morning.

The students' heads slowly wagged "Yes" or "No."

Questions over the legality of such testing relate to the Fourth 
Amendment, said Lewis, a Florida Southern College graduate.

At FSC, Lewis was named president of the sophomore, junior and senior 
classes. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1998 by the late 
Gov. Lawton Chiles.

The Fourth Amendment, ratified in the Bill of Rights in 1791, 
protects citizens from unlawful searches in their homes or from being 
searched without probable cause.

Lewis showed the Kathleen High School students how ambiguous 
interpretations of the amendment can be.

While police most certainly need a search warrant to look through a 
home or an apartment, a warrant may not be needed if public safety is 
in danger.

"Like if someone had a weapon inside a car," Lewis said.

Lewis even plucked a few students from their desks and made them the 
state prosecutor, public defender and circuit judge in a real Fourth 
Amendment case.

Lewis presented the case of "J.L.," a 16-year-old who was searched 
for a concealed weapon at a Miami bus stop after police received an 
anonymous call.

Police found a gun.

Later he was charged with carrying a concealed weapon without a 
license and possession of a firearm by a person under the age of 18.

The students argued their points on why J.L. should or shouldn't be charged.

The mock public defender said her client was picked out by an 
anonymous caller who only gave a description of J.L. over the phone 
and said police had no "probable cause" to arrest the teen.

The mock state prosecutor said if J.L. hadn't been arrested, he might 
have been a threat to public safety.

The mock circuit judge ruled in favor of the defense.

But the state prosecutor appealed to the Florida Supreme Court, made 
up of the remaining students. Most voted for allowing the search.

In the real life decision, J.L. won the Florida Supreme Court case, Lewis said.

"I was defending J.L., but the state was saying I was wrong. It helps 
us understand how the law works," said sophomore Melissa Meadows.

Lewis helped the Fourth Amendment come to life, said Sam Scott, one 
of the teachers at the criminal justice academy.

"(Lewis) can bring in a lot of his experiences. He's seen so many 
cases. He can give the kids a feeling of how it is to be a judge."

Even though the Bill of Rights was written more than two centuries 
ago, it still applies to modern life, Lewis said.

"Man, those guys had some good ideas 200 years ago, huh?" Lewis said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom