December 15 is Bill of Rights Day. It’s the day to celebrate the individual liberties that our U.S. Constitution protects.
The U.S. Constitution was written in 1787 and ratified in 1789.Throughout the 227 years of its existence, it has been amended 27 times to meet current needs.
The first 10 amendments were written on December 15, 1791 by James Madison and are known as the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights explains that government power is limited and specifically lists the important rights belonging to each individual in the country.
As part of this year’s celebration of the anniversary of the Bill of Rights, the United States Courts interviewed students from Miami University of Ohio to have them explain why the Bill of Rights is important to them. Click below to view their responses.
High school students interested in a chance to win scholarship money may want to check out a new essay contest from the Bill of Rights Institute.
We the Students Scholarship competition seeks to help high school students understand the freedom and opportunity that the Constitution offers. Prizes include $5,000 for the winning essay writer and $500 for his or her teacher.
In 800 words or fewer, students must answer the question: “Since you were born, has America moved closer to or further away from the ideals outlined in the Declaration of Independence?”
If video is more your style, there’s a video contest, too.
The deadline to submit an essay or video is December 5, 2014.
Can you imagine walking into a room full of strangers who start talking in a language that you can’t understand? That happens in courtrooms around Ohio every day for people who are limited in their English proficiency, or are deaf or hard of hearing.
The Ohio Supreme Court is committed to ensuring equal access to justice for all who come before the court. We have put in place services to courts to protect rights of individuals with special language needs, including rules and guidelines for the use of court interpreters.
Court certified language interpreters are dedicated men and women who provide interpretation services in thousands of cases each year. They work hard to ensure that nothing gets lost in translation. They become a key connection between witnesses, defendants, lawyers, judges, and other court personnel.
You can hear interpreters explain the important role they play in our judicial system in this video from Court News Ohio.
Are you an educator looking for a fun, hands-on approach to teach students about civic education? Look no further than the Visitor Education Center (VEC) located in the Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center.
Even if you think it is too expensive to travel, or not in your school’s budget this year, you may be surprised. The Ohio Supreme Court’s Civic Education Section is accepting online applications for transportation grants of up to $440 to help schools offset costs to visit the VEC.
Online applications from teachers or administrators will be accepted from October 17 through November 7. The grants will be used for visiting in January through June 2015. The grants, paid for by the Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center Foundation, are for schools with students in the fourth through twelfth grades.
All Ohio educators are eligible to apply for a grant, which will be awarded to schools with the highest percentage of students enrolled in the free and reduced lunch program as reported by the Ohio Department of Education.
For more information, please email the VEC at courttours@sc.ohio.gov or call 614.387.9223.
Hooray for my alma mater, the University of Toledo College of Law! The school is teaming up with the Toledo Women’s Bar Association (TWBA) to preserve stories of women lawyers from the Toledo area for the Toledo Women Lawyers History Project. A dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held on October 2 at 5:30 p.m. in the LaValley Law Library at UT.Daniel Steinbock, the College of Law dean, and TWBA President Lindsay Navarre will discuss the project and unveil 12 portraits of attorneys created by artist and College of Law graduate Paula Mowery.
Julia Bates
Featured paintings of attorneys include Florence Hartman Wells, the first woman to be elected to both branches of the Ohio legislature; Alice Robie Resnick, the second woman elected to the Ohio Supreme Court and the founder of the TWBA and Ohio Women’s Bar Association; and College of Law alumna Julia Bates, the first woman elected as Lucas County Prosecutor.
Hon. Alice Robie Resnick
“The biggest transformation in the legal profession in the past century is the entry of substantial numbers of women at all levels,” Steinbock said. “We are proud to be a part of this commemoration.”
The paintings will be on permanent display on the library’s second floor. Plans for a second phase of the project include a speaker series and an interactive display. Women were first admitted to the practice of law in Ohio in 1878.
Teachers, this is your chance to be part of the largest high school mock trial program in the nation.The registration deadline for teams and participants is December 5. The Ohio Center for Law-Related Education is gearing up for the new school year, which means it’s time for the 2015 Mock Trial Competition. The competition allows students to assume the roles of attorneys and witnesses as they learn about the constitution and their rights as citizens. Many students “catch the spark” in this program and later become lawyers.For instance, my son, Judge Joshua Lanzinger of the Toledo Municipal Court, is just one example of a former high school participant. Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor supports teacher and student participation in the competition. She and Ohio State Bar Association President Martin Mohler talk about this year’s mock trial case.
High School Mock Trial 2015 Competition dates:
·District Competitions: Friday, January 30, 2015
·Regional Competitions: Friday, February 20, 2015
·State Competition: Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, March 12 – 14, 2015
For more information about becoming involved with the Ohio High School Mock Trial program, please contact Priya Sonty: psonty@oclre.org, 614-485-3507.
Don’t miss this great opportunity – act by December 5!
Pollution is introducing contaminants in the natural environment that affect it adversely. It is the major issue of the present century as it is leading the world towards the situation that is influencing every single living being on Earth. Pollution can be in the form of energy and chemical substances. Air pollution, water pollution, light pollution, radioactive contamination, thermal pollution and soil contamination are the major forms of pollution.
Increasing pollution, day by day, is leading humans and their surroundings structures towards destruction. It is causing unfavorable and permanent damage to many places that has destroyed the natural habitat of many species. Some species have been extinct and some are about to extinct because of pollution.
Major contributors of pollution are emission of toxic gases from factories and vehicles, toxic and unprocessed toxic water waste from manufacturing companies, untreated discharge of wastes of factories and households in lakes and rivers, oil spilling from ships, burning of household garbage and many more. Not only big companies but every individual is contributing in increasing pollution.
Every single person can work for lowering the pollution. As an individual, we must avoid using car when travelling alone; using public transport can reduce air pollution. By dumping waste in the government provided areas for waste disposal can lower air pollution. Using paper bags over plastic bags, recycling the household materials, planting trees are some of the other practices that we must follow.
There are many things that we can still do to make our environment healthy again. We all must stand together to stop the pollution before the damage become permanent.
We all live in one country or other and our birth makes us the citizen of that country. Our country gives us identity and in turn, it is our responsibility to be a good citizen. There are some responsibilities of the good citizen that every person must follow. These responsibilities don’t only improve our surroundings but also give inner peace.
A good citizen is the one who is helpful and broad minded. He stays calm and doesn't make life of others harder. It is the responsibility of every person to keep its area clean, so a good citizen never throws trash on the streets. He helps others in every way possible. He remains nice and fair to his neighbors. A good citizen is not a mischief maker.
The thing that makes any person a good citizen is its sense of ownership for the country. He doesn't waste electricity and water; he only uses the amount necessary for him and leaves the rest to use by others. He never damages any public property and also stops other to harm any of the national structure. Good citizen is the one who abides by all the rules and laws of the country. He pays tax and also uses his right when it’s time to vote.
If explained simply, a good citizen is the one who is a true gentleman and he doesn't follow good practices alone but also teaches others to do the same.
"Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have."Winston Churchill
To maintain discipline and good order in the classroom, teachers select an individual from the students to carry out some special duties. All class monitors are assigned to assist every teacher in maintaining good order in the class.
Teachers select one student, or sometimes two students, as the class monitor and assign various duties. The top-most duty of any class monitor is to maintain discipline in the class when teacher is away. When teacher is late or absent, it is the responsibility of the class monitor to report to general office that no teacher has turned up. Usually, class monitor collects homework and also clear board when teacher leaves.
Other than the general class duties, there are also some moral duties that every class monitor must follow. It is the necessity that class monitors should be well disciplined, responsible and understanding; they must be the role model for the class. They must set the behavioral example for all. They should listen to every problem of the students and should be less complaining. Their attitude must be humble and understanding towards their fellow students.
The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.
Ray Kroc
All in all, teachers select a monitor so someone can be responsible in their place but being a leader means greater responsibilities. So any student who is blessed to have this unique position in class must abide by all the school rules and should become a good leader.
A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.
John C. Maxwell
Other variant titles for this free essay for 9th class are:
Duties of a Class Monitor in a School free Essay, Roles of a Class Monitor in a School Essay, Responsibilities of a Class Monitor in a School Essay, Duties of Monitor free essay, free essay on Class Monitor Responsibilities.
Do your students like video games? Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and the iCivics team are recruiting 30 teachers or up to 1,200 students for a pilot program to test a popular game called Argument Wars. The program will help create assessments to go with the games.
The pilot program will be limited, so apply quickly. The teachers and students need to be in 5-10th grades and have access to computers between September 29 and October 24.
What you get for participating: ·Access to reports of how your students performed in the game ·A certificate of participation from iCivics
Your students will also learn about landmark Supreme Court cases.
Interested? Contact Alison Atwater for more information. Alison.atwater@icivics.org.
Ohio will be one of 20 states participating in a first-ever nationally coordinated naturalization ceremony on September 17 and 18 to celebrate Constitution Day and Citizenship Day.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland will host the event in Ohio and Chief Judge Solomon Oliver, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio will lead the ceremony, which honors America’s newest citizens.
While students may think they are the only ones who hit the books every fall, judges regularly attend classes, too.Here in Ohio, judges belong to their associations – municipal and county court, probate, domestic relations, juvenile, and appellate judges – and all have special groups that regularly present courses helpful to their work.
In addition, twice a year the Ohio Judicial Conference gathers all judges together and provides programs of interest to them. The fall program this year included updates in state case law and legislative developments, programs on court technology, information on the use of specially trained courthouse facility dogs, and a two-hour session with recent information on drug abuse.
While attorneys must attend 24 hours of course work biennially, judges currently need 40 hours.Some judges have been to the National Judicial College and all judges regularly participate in continuing legal education offered by the Ohio Judicial College. Learning is life-long, and is an important part of a legal professional's occupation.
A new national survey by the Conference of Court Public Information Officers shows the impact social media is having on judges and courts.
The 2014 CCPIO New Media Survey has some interesting findings. More courts are using social media like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube as a public information tool. Facebook use by courts is up by more than 5 percent; Twitter use increased by 3.5 percent and YouTube by 3.2 percent.
Court officials have also changed their attitudes about reporters’ use of social media during courtroom proceedings. Nearly 66 percent of court officials in the previous survey had objected to the media’s sending of messages. Now only 46 percent say it’s inappropriate and 39 percent have no problem permitting it.
Over time more judges and court personnel have begun to become comfortable using social media themselves, but there are still pitfalls for judges due to ethical restrictions on what they may say about their pending work and opinions they express. I certainly understand that concern, and since my first blog post in 2010, I’ve been very cautious in the topics chosen because I write as a sitting justice.
I was glad to share some thoughts about blogging in the survey report. While by no means an expert in the field of communication, I am a firm believer that exchanging ideas on the best ways to help the public understand our courts is time well spent.
One thing that almost every good student wants is getting good grades in exams. In Pakistan, where the education system relies totally on learning and memorizing thick books, it becomes hard for students to remember each and everything which eventually lowers their grades.
One best tip to Improve your Grades is by including "Repetition" in your educational practice.
Have you ever wonder, how you remember the poems you have learned in your childhood? Its just because of the repetition of the poems again and again. The continuous repetition imprints the material on neurons permanently.
How to improve your grades by adding repetition?
It is the question that may strike your mind. Well, it is an easy task. It may take time at the beginning but when you start practicing it on daily basis, the time will reduce and you will see how you are improving your results.
When you start preparing for your exams, practice this method.
For instance, you need to learn three poems titled "Twinkle Twinkle", "Baba Black Sheep", and "Jack & Jill" for your exams. Obviously, if you are reading this post that won't be the case and you have to cover and remember so much more.
At day 1, learn "Twinkle Twinkle" and make sure you repeat it many times to be sure that you have memorized it.
On the next day, don't start learning "Baba Black Sheep" immediately and try to repeat "Twinkle Twinkle" in your mind first to check if you still remember it. If you don't, then don't go to the next poem and finish learning the first poem. When you are sure that you have learned both then repeat them on the day when you start to learn Jack & Jill.
When you have a bigger course to cover, you can add the repetition of the previously learned material in alternative days. This way, you will know before time that if have forgotten any thing that might have helped you to earn some good scores in the exam.
This tip can help all the students who complain that they get blank in the examination hall or have the problem of forgetting what they have learnt.
In the summer of 2008, the Ohio Supreme Court started a pilot program to help increase the number of young people from underserved communities in the legal profession. Today, more than 400 students are involved in the Law and Leadership Institute (LLI) program that has spread to eight law school campuses in Ohio.
Athena Williams has been involved in LLI for two years. Athena will be a high school tenth grader this year, and she is already getting a taste of what it’s like to be a lawyer. She is a very engaging young lady, and I’m sure she will succeed in whatever career path she chooses.
Athena gives a report about her LLI experience this summer in this video story.
Our country celebrates its 238th birthday tomorrow. The Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776, but the official document wasn’t ready until two days later. So, we celebrate our independence on July 4.
The U.S. Courts put together a great video in which citizens, attorneys, and federal judges from across the country reflect on what independence means, and how the U.S. courts protect their freedoms. The different perspectives are very interesting.
Back in 1985 when I first became a judge and served in the Toledo Municipal Court, we had few drug cases other than marijuana. But over the next 20 years, we saw drugs of choice change from those of powder and crack cocaine to Oxycontin. Today, we are faced with an epidemic that takes the lives of hundreds of Ohioans each year – opiate abuse involving prescription pain medication and illegal drugs such as heroin.
On June 30, more than 800 of Ohio’s judges and others concerned about the impact this epidemic has on their courts and in their communities came to Columbus for the Ohio Judicial Symposium on Opiate Addiction.
Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor helped to open the one-day event that explained the consequences of addiction and offered information on promising judicial practices leading to new methods of treatment for offenders. Each team of the 83 counties represented returned to their communities with a plan to find specific solutions.
Many courts have begun to address this serious problem by using drug courts, which bring together court and treatment personnel to work collaboratively in assisting defendants with their addiction issues by treatment instead of jail or prison. The drug courts are seeing results with reduced recidivism and improved treatment for drug offenders, and with measurable cost savings. Court News Ohio recently visited the drug court at Fairfield County Municipal Court. You can watch the video here:
There’s still much to be done to stop the alarming trend of illegal drug use and death due to opiates. The actions that will be taken as a result of the Ohio Judicial Symposium on Opiate Addiction are steps in the right direction.
A new, furry employee is working in an Ohio court. Camry is a facility dog walking the halls in Marion County Family Court. He’s been with the court for a month but only since last week has he been in an actual courtroom. Camry helps defuse stress for children and even adults when they come to court.
Camry is the first of his kind as he was placed with a courthouse. Typically facility dogs who work in a courtroom setting are placed with a prosecutor’s office or with a victim advocacy group. There are currently 60 facility dogs nationwide in 32 states. Three of those dogs are in Ohio. Joining Camry is Avery with the Summit County prosecutor’s office and Nanook with Michael’s House in Greene County.
Any four-legged friend that helps children in the courtroom receives a blue-ribbon from me – especially one who knows 40 commands. Click below to watch Camry’s story.
There are many days in life that bring joy and pleasure but some days are the happiest and remain in our mind forever. These days are the reminders of the amazing time we have spent. The happiest day of my life is a visit to an orphanage. The happiness I felt that day is no match with any other day of my life.
My friend likes to help others and she often likes to arrange visits to different orphanages. On one of her visit, she invited us all. As I was free that day, I have decided to go. First, I wasn’t excited at all. It didn’t know what I will do when I will reach there. It was in the plan to reach the place at 2 p.m. I went before time and started to wait for others.
There was a magic show arrangement for the children and magician was arranging his things. In the waiting area, I saw children watching where I was sitting. Then they called me inside with the other people I was sitting with. When I was with them, they started to ask so many questions that where I was from and why I am visiting them when I don’t know them? Their questions struck my mind.
When all the arrangements were completed in the hall, the children were asked to go in that area. They divided into groups and selected the person they liked most; they grabbed our hands and took us out. They sit with us and enjoyed the show while talking to us in the way that we are their old friends. They all were very beautiful and just our presence meant a lot to them.
After the show, we played different games and enjoyed different activities. We distributed gifts and sweets, painted their faces with cute butterflies and flowers, applied mehndi on girls’ hands, and eat with them. When it was leaving time, all the children had tears in their eyes and they were taking promise from each one of us that we will visit them often. With the promise of meeting again we left the place.
After my first meeting with these children, one thought hit my mind that they were thinking we had made their day but in the reality they have provided us the way to remain happy forever. I found that true happiness can only be enjoyed when you make others happy and specially those who don’t have anyone to call their own!
Complaint Letter To Postmaster, complaining about the Missing Parcel
Your Address
City
Date: …………
The Postmaster Post Office, Address City
Sub: Parcel of receipt no ….. has not reached the address …..
Dear Sir, I sent a Registered Parcel to Name, at: Address, City on date……………The provided receipt no. of the parcel is …….. The parcel was expected to be delivered on date …. but it has not arrived yet. It seems either the parcel is lost or delivered to some other place.
Kindly look in to the matter personally and resolve my issue as soon as possible. I will be highly obliged.
