The Atlanta Bar Association and
the Fulton County Superior Court
partnered to host nearly 230 mid-
dle school students from around
Atlanta at a Law Day program on
April 27, 2017. The students were
welcomed by this year’s honorary
host, Judge Alford J. Dempsey, the
Deputy Chief Judge of the Superior
Court of Fulton County, and treated
to inspirational speeches from trial
attorney L. Chris Stewart and im-
migration attorney Pamela Pey-
nado Stewart. Many in the audience
who aspire to become attorneys
reported that the question and an-
swer session with the Stewarts was
their favorite part of the program.
The students also participated in
a game of Who Wants to be a Mil-
lionaire, Law Day Edition, during
which whiz kids competed for hot
Cheetos. During this segment of
the program, volunteers from the
audience answered questions that
were designed to teach the students
about the long and winding road
of the evolution of equal protec-
tion to all citizens from the ratifi-
cation of the 14th Amendment in
1868 through the Obergefell v. Hodges
decision in 2015. The program was
followed by lunch for the students
in the atrium of the Fulton County
Government Building, which had
been appropriately decorated for
Law Day.
Planning for the annual Law Day
program began last year. Volunteers
from the Atlanta Bar, the Fulton
Superior Court staff, GABWA, and
law students from Georgia State
University all collaborated this year
to raise funds to buy the lunches
for the students and put together a
program that helped the students
better understand the important
contribution the 14th Amendment
has made to what it means to be an
American and how closely liberty is
tied to equality and justice.
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The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association THE ATLANTA LAWYER
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