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Supreme Court of Ohio Justice Maureen O’Connor today served as a judge and speaker at We the People, the Citizen and the Constitution, a civic competition among more than 150 high school students from around Ohio.
“I am very impressed with the preparation the students put into this competition,” said Justice O’Connor. “This was a great opportunity for them to learn about our democratic system and to develop leadership skills.” We the People is a nationally acclaimed program administered in Ohio by the Ohio Center for Law-Related Education (OCLRE). The competition format is similar to congressional hearings, with students serving as expert witnesses on the subject of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. OCLRE is a private, non-profit, nonpartisan organization whose mission is to improve society by developing citizens empowered with an understanding of our democratic system. OCLRE is sponsored by the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Ohio State Bar Association, the office of the Ohio Attorney General, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio Foundation.
Justice O’Connor was elected in 2002 as the 148th Justice on the Supreme Court of Ohio and the seventh woman to serve on the Court. She has experience as a practicing attorney, magistrate, common pleas judge, and prosecuting attorney. In 1998, she was elected as lieutenant governor and was the governor’s chief advisor on criminal justice issues, serving as director of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, and as chair of Ohio’s Security Task Force and the State Building Security Review Committee.