Pitt Law School Students to Teach Local High School Students About Constitutional Rights

PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh School of Law is announcing its participation in a program that pairs Pitt Law students with regional high school students to encourage civic engagement and teach them about the U.S. Constitution. 

The kickoff for the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. June 2 in the student lounge on the ground floor of the Barco Law Building, 3900 Forbes Ave., Oakland. 

The Marshall-Brennan project has been active in at least 10 metropolitan areas across the United States since 1999, encouraging high school students in underserved areas to  attend college or to pursue a legal career. Pitt Law students will visit area high schools beginning this Fall to teach an elective course on the U.S. Constitution. The course focuses on how the government and judiciary have historically shaped the course of the nation in which these young people live. Through lectures, class exercises, and texts, the students develop analytical skills, build their vocabulary, and gain a better understanding of the legal system. The program culminates with a National Moot Court competition. 

Mary Beth Tinker will be the keynote speaker at the June 2 kickoff program. Tinker was a 13-year-old junior high school student in 1965 when she and a group of her peers were suspended for wearing black armbands to school to protest the war in Vietnam. Assisted by the ACLU, the students launched a court challenge that culminated in the 1969 landmark U. S. Supreme Court decision Tinker v. Des Moines. Justice Abe Fortas wrote for the Court’s 7-2 majority ruling that teachers and students “do not shed their constitutional rights . . . at the schoolhouse gate.” 

Now a pediatric nurse with master’s degrees in nursing and public health, Tinker resides in Washington D.C. and volunteers with civic education organizations, advocating for the rights of young people. 

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5/31/11/tmw/jf