Stevens students meet Supreme Court justices in D.C.

By Kayla Gahagan, Journal staff | Wednesday, December 05, 2007

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Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has a firm handshake. It's one of the things Asif Choudhury remembers well after a recent visit to Washington, D.C.

The Rapid City Stevens High School senior and fellow classmate Hannah Lehmann accompanied teacher Kathy Bunkowske to Washington last month to be part of the Annenberg Public Policy Center presidential academy, a project of the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands.

Over two days, 51 students and 10 teachers from throughout the U.S. had the opportunity to question and discuss past court decisions with Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Stephen G. Breyer and O'Connor. The conversations were videotaped and will be made available next year for use in classrooms.

The goal of the Sunnylands project is to help students better understand the U.S. Constitution and the role an independent judiciary plays in democracy.

Bunkowske said they almost didn't go on the trip. She was gone from school for workshops when she received the information on the academy, and, by the time she read it, the deadline was a day away.

"I threw it in the garbage," she said. "I just thought that I didn't have the time."

But something changed her mind, and she fished the application back out.

"I thought, 'this could change someone's life,'" she said.

She asked Lehmann and Choudhury to attend with her, and she soon received news they were selected to go. In preparation, the students researched and studied the cases they would be discussing with the justices. Students were not allowed to ask any questions of the justices regarding current cases, and all the questions were screened beforehand.

The cases they researched included the 1886 Supreme Court decision Yick Wo vs. Hopkins, which was about equal protection issues. Korematsu vs. United States and Hirabayashi vs. United States both dealt with rights of citizens in the time of war.

Racism was at the heart of all the discussions, Lehmann said.

The latter cases were about restrictions placed on Japanese-Americans during World War II. One of the students, whose grandmother was sent to an internment camp during the war, asked the justices whether the court ruling still holds precedent today.

The justices said America must remember how wrong the decision was.

"In Korematsu, we weren't detaining Japanese, we were detaining American citizens," O'Connor said in an Annenberg release. "It is so touching that we have questions from students in the room whose grandparents were interned."

Lehmann was nervous at first to be in the discussion, but it wore off.

"I was there to learn," she said.

Because of time limits, Lehmann and Choudhury didn't have the chance to ask questions, but both said the experience was well worth the trip. They also received a tour of the White House and the Capitol and saw parts of the city.

"We were running every day," Bunkowske said.

Lehmann agreed.

"I don't think I slept the whole time I was there," she said, laughing.

After graduation, Lehmann is thinking about doing diplomatic work or working on educational policy. Choudhury plans to attend law school and made some connections in Washington. The students met with Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., and Sens. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and John Thune, R-S.D.

"I'm looking to intern with some of the senators, and they told me everything I need to know," Choudhury said. "It was really helpful."

Bunkowske said the trip was memorable.

"It was just an amazing experience to watch and listen to the justices talk about the interpretation of the constitution," she said. "It was such an opportunity for me to watch these kids interact with the justices. ... It was just phenomenal."

Contact Kayla Gahagan at 394-8410 or kayla.gahagan@rapidcityjournal.com