Law Day event educates, entertains

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Malissa Lott
  • 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho --  Base children had the opportunity to learn the basics of law during Law Day May 28, 2014, at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho.

Children acted as lawyers and jurors to discover whether or not Mr. Pig intentionally tried to harm Mr. Wolf.

"Law day was first introduced in 1958 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower," said Airman 1st Class Chanera Hammonds, 366th Fighter Wing Judge Advocate General law paralegal. "Every year we have a different theme and this year's theme is every vote counts."

The children formed groups and received lessons from members of the legal team about their assigned positions.

"We wanted to put the children in roles such as jury, lawyer and maybe even judge," said Tech. Sgt. Jayd Presnell-Keating general law NCO in charge. "We want them to understand what it is we do."

Base children had the opportunity to participate in a mock trial and voted on the outcome and served a sentence.

"I was anxious to see whether or not the children would understand the legal terms such as hearsay," said Capt. Lauren Tschampl, 366th Judge Advocate adverse actions chief. "It has been funny because you can tell in the inflection in their voice they are really grasping at what we are talking about and are asking pointed questions. They were able to go off script and craft their own arguments. It's more than we asked for."

During the mock trial, Mr. Pig and Mr. Wolf presented their argument to the jury, and in the end, Mr. Pig was found guilty.

"I would love for them to go home and share something they learned with their parents," said Tschampl. "For our office to know we helped not just educate the kids, but foster an interest in the legal career field, whether that is to be a paralegal, an attorney or even a judge one day would be great. It would be so neat for one of their earliest childhood memories that sparked an interest in law was here at the Mountain Home Air Force Base Law Office."