EDNY and Federal Bar Association host fourth annual EDNY Justice Institute

July 12, 2019 Rob Abruzzese

U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Bianco is part of a group from the Eastern District of New York who will teach 10th graders next week during a week-long course at the Touro Law Center. Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese

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The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York and the EDNY Chapter of the Federal Bar Association are hosting their fourth annual EDNY Justice Institute at the Touro Law Center in Central Islip next week.

The institute is a week-long civics education program led by Judge Joseph Bianco to teach 10th graders the workings of the federal court and the criminal justice system. It was developed by the Second Circuit’s civics education initiative — Justice for All: Courts and the Community.

The students will hear from a whole array of professionals who work in the court including five federal judges, Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini, two FBI agents, a U.S. Secret Service agent, an ATF special agent, a deputy U.S. marshal, federal prosecutors and criminal defense lawyers.

They will also sit in on actual court proceedings and a naturalization ceremony, and will discuss those events with a judge afterwards.

The week ends with a mock trial competition on Friday during which students will compete after learning basic advocacy skills from experienced federal practitioners. Students from Touro Law Center and other law schools are going to mentor the 80 high school students expect to participate in the mock trial tournament.

There will be an awards luncheon on Friday, as well, at which Kristin Fleschner will serve as the keynote speaker. Fleschner, who is blind and currently training for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, graduated from Harvard Law School in 2014 and works in the U.S. Department of State on human rights issues.