"My time with HEAF students has been wonderful."

The Honorable Robert Katzmann

Order in the Court is class that HEAF's 7th and 8th grade students participate in as part of the Summer Quest program. In the class they learn about constitutional law through discussions and hands-on activities with volunteer lawyers and law students. Using real-life situations focused on youth issues, students took depositions from witnesses, prepared legal briefs, and participated in mock bench trials.

Judge Robert Katzmann, a U.S. Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, is one of several legal professionals who has volunteered to hear cases as part of Order in the Court. Judge Katzmann has also worked to support HEAF board members Robin Panovka and Alexandra Korry with a program they developed for high school students with help from Professor Peggy Davis of NYU Law School.

A lawyer and political scientist by training, Judge Katzmann received his A.B. from Columbia College, his A.M. and Ph. D degrees in Government from Harvard University, and a J.D. from Yale Law School. During his distinguished career, he has been the Walsh Professor of Government, Professor of Law and Professor of Public Policy at Georgetown University; a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and president of the Governance Institute. Judge Katzmann has also written many articles and books and serves on a variety of non-profit boards.

Here are some of Judge Katzmann's comments about volunteering for HEAF:

My time with HEAF students has been wonderful. It was stimulating for me because I could sense students' excitement in what they were doing. Throughout the whole process -- in class and moot court -- we were able to give students a sense of what they could accomplish if they worked hard, day-by-day—and they did. They also had the chance physically to take on the role when they came to the Courthouse and tried on judicial robes and argued and heard arguments in our courtroom. I've met with various student groups, but this was the first with middle school kids. They were motivated and eager for the opportunity, which made the experience of teaching in the program all the more worthwhile. I definitely hope this will be an ongoing activity. Working with Daniel Rose, Robin Panovka, Peggy Cooper Davis and the NYU law students has been an added bonus.