Let the Conversations Begin!
This program offers an opportunity to rekindle your sense of justice by building relationships with your community. The 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence creates an opportunity for your community to explore what fairness, justice, the Rule of Law and an independent judiciary mean to them.
About
Judges Listening and The National Judicial College will help you prepare for these conversations, with
- conversation starters
- written and media resources
- in-person and online courses on the history, ethics, and art of conversation about the Declaration of Independence.
What Makes This Program Different?
Three features make this program unique from speakers’ bureaus, town hall meetings, and other judicial events. First, this program meets people where they live and work.
Second, the nation is celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. By offering excerpts of the Declaration, the materials provide a basis for these quarter-millennial conversations and reflections.
Third, Judges Listening is designed to assist the judiciary in achieving the goal of having the public feel heard. Trust develops naturally from conversations.
The Sandra Day O’Connor Institute offers leading civics engagement programs, including the “Public Square,” which engages the public on civics issues of the day. It plans to convene an online “Public Square” for Judges Listening, as one model for public conversation.
How YOU Can Participate
Judges Listening invites you, America’s judges and judicial leaders, to help bring these conversations to life. NJC will offer training and resources, in print and digital form, to support you in convening conversations in your community.
- Join colleagues in learning about the Declaration of Independence and the art of conversation.
- Review the Judges Listening website (launching April 1) and select your conversation starter.
- Identify a community organization where a conversation could take place.
- Request an opportunity to convene a conversation on the Declaration of Independence and its relevance today.
Interested?
If you have any interest in convening a Conversation in your community this summer, sign up here. Share this website with your colleagues. You also can suggest resources that other judges may benefit from seeing if they are considering convening a Conversation.
