School and Community Outreach

The Oregon Court of Appeals judges and staff regularly travel around Oregon to hear oral arguments and talk with high school and college students and community groups about the Court's work and about Oregon's justice system.

Since 1998, the Court has held oral arguments at schools, universities and local courts in 42 different cities. A panel of three judges and a staff person work with the schools and local courts to schedule the trips. The judges meet with students who attend the arguments to discuss the appellate process and the Court's work. Often, students are able to read the briefs in the cases and discuss them in class before the Court arrives; the Court works to choose cases that involve local parties and lawyers and present issues that would interest the students.

The Court of Appeals heard oral arguments during the 2008-2009 school year on the dates and at the locations listed below:

If you would like further information with regard to the Court of Appeals' school visitation program, please contact Jill Howell at 503.986.5678 or jill.d.howell@ojd.state.or.us.

When traveling outside Salem, the Court often also meets with local community groups, service clubs, and local bar associations over lunch or dinner.

On a recent trip to Union and Wallowa Counties in eastern Oregon, the Court

• heard oral arguments and talked with students at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande and the Wallowa County Courthouse in Enterprise
• visited La Grande High School and met with the junior Advanced Placement American History class there
• lunched with the Lions Club and dined with the Union County Bar Association