The Florida Bar Speakers Bureau goes to school.

• Author: Bookman, Alan

I winced when I saw the headline of the Palm Beach Post article: "Students Assess Bill of Rights, Vote Against Guns, Lawyers, Press." Ouch. I didn't envy Florida Supreme Court Justice Harry Lee Anstead, who visited that particular high school to hold moot court hearings and try to teach the kids about the Bill of Rights. He'd conducted one of the Florida Law Related Education Association's classic exercises: "If you could only keep five of the 10 amendments in the Bill of Rights, which would you keep?" The students had basically decided: "Turn in your guns, stop the presses, and fire the lawyers," according to the article. "But," it said, "keep protecting us from unreasonable searches and unusual punishments, give us a jury, and let us pray."

Justice Anstead responded with a short history of the basis for the right to bear arms, the right to legal counsel, and freedom of the press. That's why he'd come, to open a door for these students and to turn on a light by which they could see more clearly their heritage and its tremendous value to them. That's one part of what volunteer attorneys and judges of The Florida Bar Speakers Bureau are charged with doing. We are at the forefront in the fight to help students understand that the law is an honorable profession and serving in it serves the values--and people--we hold dear. Our mission statement says the Speakers Bureau exists "to promote among Florida citizens an understanding of our constitutionally based system of government, knowledge about the justice system, and an appreciation of the role lawyers play to safeguard and protect the rights of all." While our mission is a lofty goal, I've been privileged to see it happen often, especially in the schools.

Tom Beard's class stands out to me as a great example. Tom teaches law studies at University High School in Orlando. He contacted the Speakers Bureau with a slightly unusual request: serial speakers. He said the culmination of the input from several attorneys would be the formation of a student court at U.H.S. The Bar's Speakers Bureau sent Tom's classes some fine lawyers who are compassionate, excellent speakers. The Florida...