From Synagogue to Courtroom
A synagogue turned into a courtroom at the You Be the Judge program at Congregation Beth Shalom.
About 30 people took part in the interactive workshop hosted by the National Council of Jewish Women.
“We were able to energize a bunch of people from our community to come out and to educate themselves about how judicial nominations affect every aspect of our lives,” said Jill Lexier, state policy advocate at the National Council of Jewish Women.
The event began with an overview of how federal courts work, then attendees broke out into groups to review real court cases.
“So much now is happening in the court system, a variety of topics are coming up that are of interest to me personally or of interest to people that I care about,” said attendee Cheryl Marshall. “So I just want to know where people are coming from, how things are presented in courts, how appeals are handled, etc.”
The Cases
One case was about whether voters should be required to present a photo ID.
The other questioned if saying a prayer before a public meeting is appropriate, a timely topic as the DuPage County Board recently voted on that same issue, deciding to allow it.
Each group came up with a verdict and presented their decisions. Then legal experts explained what the supreme and appeals court voted.
Naperville News 17’s Aysha Ashley Househ reports.
