Queens students pitch constitutional amendments to borough’s judges
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Queens high school students who participated in the Civic Essay Contest hold their awards alongside Queens judges and representatives of the Queens borough president and Queens district attorney. Eagle photo by Noah Powelson
By Noah Powelson
It was a long grueling day of legal debate for a group of around a dozen Queens high school students last week, as they were given the unique chance to introduce and defend their own constitutional amendments before actively sitting judges in Queens Supreme Court.
The Unified Court System’s Office of Civic Engagement hosted the finals for their Queens section of the “Amend and Defend” Civic Essay contest on Monday, where students from across the World’s Borough presented their essays to the leading judges of each of Queens’ courts.
Unlike past essay contests, students were required to submit their own amendments to the U.S. Constitution, then argue and defend their amendments before some of Queens’ top judges. Students met in Queens Supreme Court, Civil Term, and were each assigned to different courtrooms with their own judge they presented their amendments to. Students were required not just to read their essays, but to explain the benefits of their proposed amendments, identify the challenges and discuss the ratification process.
Some of Queens’ most well-known judicial leaders heard the students’ essays, including Administrative Judges Marguerite Grays and Michelle Johnson, Supervising Judges Michael Goldman and Edwin Novillo, Surrogate Judge Cassandra Johnson and others.
To display all facets of government action to the students, representatives from the offices of the Queens borough president, the Queens district attorney and U.S. Representative Gregory Meeks also appeared during the award ceremony.
“When a civics program like this comes up and you have students participating and their families are involved, it shows what the potential is for our country in the future,” Nathaniel Hezekiah, the chief of staff for Meeks and current candidate for Assembly District 32 in Queens, said during the ceremony. “The individuals who participated today, you never know what they will go out in the world to do and become and then ultimately come back into this space. And quite honestly, if the investment paid off, they might have a black robe someday too.”
Clara Burke, left, placed first in the Civic Essay Contest organized by Zenith Taylor, right, the statewide civic engagement coordinator. Eagle photo by Noah Powelson
Students focused their proposed amendments on a variety of issues that have dominated legal headlines in recent years, especially for New Yorkers.
Student proposals included amendments related to gun reform, digital privacy and technology regulation, universal healthcare, citizenship pathways, social media age restrictions and artificial intelligence.
Each student received a certificate of recognition both from the Office of Civil Engagement and from Meeks’ office. The top three students were recognized with awards, and the top student will have their essay go up against other contest winners in other counties. The final overall contest winner across the state will be announced on Law Day, May 1.
The topics each student chose showed not just what issues they saw as important or topical, but displayed concern for the powers and limits given to our country’s elected and appointed leaders.
The final winner of the Queens essay contest was Clara Burke, who focused her amendment on the judiciary, proposing term limits for U.S. Supreme Court justices.
“Thank you to everyone who made this program possible, it was a really amazing program and I truly enjoyed every minute of it,” Burke said after receiving her award. “I also want to thank all the judges who listened to our speeches, it was amazing to be questioned by you.”
The two runner ups to Burke were Nicholas Libertini, who proposed a maximum age for elected officials, and Krish Kumar, who proposed legalized abortion access across the country.
It was the second annual Office of Civic Engagement Civic Essay Contest, and it marked a significant expansion from the first year’s program.
Over 165 essay submissions from students across the state were submitted. Queens students accounted for nearly a third of all submissions.
The civics essay contest was one of the first programs created and managed by Zenith Taylor, the state’s first-ever statewide civic engagement coordinator. Taylor, who used to be a Queens attorney and past president of the Queens County Bar Association, said it’s been her goal to increase civic engagement and courtroom knowledge in as many schools as possible.
Currently, Taylor’s office is gearing up to launch the first Civics Trivia Bowl for middle school students in the spring on a virtual platform. Work on next year’s Civic Essay Contest, which Taylor said will come with more new twists, is already in development.
This year’s contest was a challenge unto itself, but Taylor said she was proud of how it ended up playing out in the borough’s halls of justice.
“This was nerve wracking in terms of getting it together, and I have to tell you it came together nicely,” Taylor said.
“We’re already thinking about what we’re going to do next year, but I also want to encourage everyone to let people know about the program,” she added. “It started last year, we’ve expanded it, and I hope to expand it even more.”
