Legal Studies: A Vision for Civic Empowerment
In the United States, only seven out of 50 states require high school students to take a full year course on civics. For a country that protects and encourages citizen participation in government affairs, this statistic emphasizes a shortfall in legislative action to fully commit to its values.
Many high school graduates are not ready to take on adult life—a completely normal fact. Turning the tassel from right to left does not magically allow one to gain effective life skills. However, literacy on the matters of finance, law, basic emotional management, etc, in school can sufficiently prepare high school graduates to be capable adults.
Dr. Zarlengo, the head of OHS’ English department and Legal Studies instructor, shared a similar sentiment that she tangibly developed after sitting through her first year of law school: “If you talk to any lawyer who is educated in the American legal system, and you talk to them about the way that they responded to their introduction of the law the first year of law school (and we all pretty much get the same introduction to the law), everyone agrees that they turned to the person sitting next to them again and again, during class and said, ‘Why didn’t I learn this in high school?’” Dr. Zarlengo points out that only in law school do “foundational and basic ways of understanding not just law, but also government and politics” get taught, and to which the importance of such literacy is so widely recognized that “everybody there [law students] agrees that [they] should have learned it earlier.”
But it’s not some hidden notion that legal education results in better voters, more informed citizens overall, Dr. Zarlengo reiterates. “Nobody understands why it’s so withheld from the educational process.”
Dr. Zarlengo introduced Legal Studies as an OHS elective to equip students with a preparatory education on their individual rights as citizens while pushing them to develop a deep, intuitive way of understanding the structures of the U.S. government. In the fall, students learn about the fundamentals; topics include checks and balances, how to brief a case, Miranda rights, common law— all followed by how they specifically apply to young people. “We don’t just look at crimes,” Dr. Zarlengo explains. “We look at juvenile offenses. We don’t just look at the death penalty, we look at the death penalty as it’s applied to young people. We don’t just talk about Miranda rights. It’s the [case of Miranda rights of a] middle schooler. We don’t just talk about Fourth Amendment rights, we talk about school searches, public school officers, authorities to search students who are at school.”
In the spring, students vote on a case from the Supreme Court’s current docket, and for the semester, conduct in-depth factual and legal research to ultimately take a stance on that current controversy. At the end of the spring, Dr. Zarlengo, Dr. Zei (the other Legal Studies instructor), and seven other guests (lawyers, OHS instructors, etc) come in as mock Supreme Court justices to grill the students’ knowledge of the case they are arguing.
Aimee Burmeister (’28), a Legal Studies alum, comments that the course was a fantastic experience and recommends the class even if students are not “law nerds.” “I learned and was challenged far more than I expected, and I’m so glad I was,” she reflects. “The topics covered also felt deeply relevant to my philosophical interests and the current political climate; we had meaningful discussions on topics like the death penalty, burning the American flag, and abortion in thoughtful and respectful ways.”
Like Aimee, Dr. Zarlengo believes that any student would benefit from taking Legal Studies by the lessons it inspires. “I really want to awaken and enliven students’ sensibilities to the fact that they have rights…I want to give the students at the OHS the prerogative of judging for themselves whether the law is doing a good job for them.”
On what kind of overall lesson she wants Legal Studies students to walk away with, Dr. Zarlengo aspires that when her students come across a topic of personal interest in the future, they will feel empowered enough to “cut out the middleman” and interpret the law themselves through a direct reading. Even if they do go to the media, Dr. Zarlengo intends for them to be able to assess where journalistic coverage leaves out or emphasizes certain things. “It's my hope that my students can understand and evaluate the actual binding law, know how to find it, know how to read it, know how to gloss it enough to, at a minimum, evaluate the reliability of the authorities that they’re trusting.”
Full interview (typed) with Aimee Burmeister on taking Legal Studies:
Q: What stuck with you the most from Legal Studies?
A: I loved tackling a pending case before the Supreme Court, United States v. Skrmetti, in the second semester. While in the first semester of Legal Studies, we as students were learning the ropes and basics of constitutional law, in the second semester we were allowed to fly, using the sturdy foundation we had built. Instead of treating us as mere high school students, Dr. Zarlengo (my teacher) set the sky as the limit and pushed us to challenge ourselves, even when we thought something was too hard. When I began to write an over-twenty-pages-long legal brief defending my position on the case, I was not asked to simply write persuasively or convincingly or well enough for my grade level—but as if I was a real, professional lawyer before SCOTUS, as much as that is possible. I did not know where to start, and I felt that the challenge was impossible. But Dr. Zarlengo guided me (and others working on a brief) through the process, and soon I realized that I just had to take a leap. I also had to defend my brief in mock oral arguments; I felt out of my comfort zone, but I am glad I did it. It taught me to be thoroughly prepared and consider all potential objections and questions that might be thrown my way from the mock justices, and the experience sticks with me to this day.
Q: What did you find engaging about the topics in Legal Studies?
A: I really appreciated that the topics discussed and covered in Legal Studies were not merely theoretical ideals that would never practically relate to my life or help me in any way. I learned about my rights as a minor, and I learned my rights, more broadly, as a citizen of the US. The topics covered also felt deeply relevant to my philosophical interests and the current political climate; we had meaningful discussions on topics like the death penalty, burning the American flag, and abortion in thoughtful and respectful ways. I gained the skill of legal reasoning (as much as a highschooler can) and a better understanding of the US government, and they still help me understand the news and, more generally, the world around me better, which I am eternally grateful for, especially in this fraught and chaotic time.
Q: Did you take the writing, or non-writing option? How manageable was the course load?
A: I took the writing option, and I am glad I did. The first semester certainly had a hefty workload in comparison to my other classes, but the work was mostly properly taking in the readings (which were often difficult-to-understand court opinions that took some time to get accustomed to) rather than being barraged with weekly assignments or busy work; every reading and assignment felt important and enriching. The writing option meant a few more mandatory assignments here and there but did not mean more workload during the average week. I went to office hours when I did not know whether I was spending too much time on an assignment, and that was incredibly helpful. The second semester involved less workload, on average, except for certain times where a bigger project was due, but I love the way it was set up such that one could choose which assignments to complete (each being worth a certain number of points) to meet the point minimum for a targeted letter grade; it gave me great flexibility and freedom.
Q: What kind of students would you recommend to take Legal Studies?
A: I would, of course, recommend any student who is interested in the law to take this class but would warn them that it might not (and likely will not) match their expirations—despite having considered myself a law nerd before going into the class, I learned and was challenged far more than I expected, and I’m so glad I was. Furthermore, Legal Studies’s general focus is on constitutional law, which is at times a very peculiar and twisty area of the law (although it is my favorite!) that of course overlaps with other legal areas but is nonetheless quite distinct from them in many ways. But one does not need to be a law (or constitutional law) nerd, like I was, to enjoy this class. This class is for those who would like a more sturdy understanding of politics, government, history, debate, and philosophy. Studying the law also means studying legal reasoning, which can only further one’s ability to construct and analyze precise, nuanced arguments that are oftentimes unintuitive and dense—a skill that can aid anybody!