(ANNAPOLIS, MD — March 28, 2007) More than 100 county teenagers have a court date on Wednesday, April 4, in the Anne Arundel District Court. Juniors and seniors from Severna Park and South River High Schools will get an up-close view of the state’s justice system in action during the biannual “Schools in the Courts” program. As part of the three-hour program, students will sit in on actual criminal cases heard before District Judge Vincent A. Mulieri.

“In addition to educating students about the legal system, we’ve designed this program to show students the consequences of making wrong choices – namely drinking and driving, drug use, and other crimes,” Judge Mulieri said. ”We don’t do anything different than we do on any other day in the courtroom. Each defendant is sentenced based on the facts and the students see the outcome, including getting handcuffed and sent to jail in the appropriate cases. The courtroom gets real quiet when that happens.”

After watching the criminal cases, students will hear from a representative from Mothers Against Drunk Driving and hear first-person accounts of drinking and driving. They will also meet and ask questions of Chief Judge Ben C. Clyburn of the District Court of Maryland. They will learn about the requirements of probation and the financial burden of being charged with drunk driving from Don Kumer of the Department of Parole and Probation, and hear from William D. Roessler, deputy state’s attorney for Anne Arundel County, Judge Danny Andrews of the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings, and Laurel Stiff, a nurse from Maryland’s Shock Trauma Center. The Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) Board of Education will tape the speakers to air on Anne Arundel County Public Schools Television Channel 96 on both the Comcast and Millennium cable systems. Broadcast times will be posted at www.aacps.org.

Schools in the Courts will be held from 9 a.m. to approximately noon on Wednesday, April 4. Members of the media are encouraged to attend. Please contact the Court Information Office at (410) 260-1488 in advance if you want to attend or have questions about when and where cameras will be permitted.