“We are a nation of laws, not men and women.” - John Adams, second president of the United States

In the 1982 film “The Verdict,” Paul Newman plays a down-and-out Boston lawyer who stumbles into a major medical malpractice case. Faced with long odds and fighting a corrupt system, Newman goes for broke in his closing argument.

“Today, you are the law,” he tells the jury. “You are the law. Not some book. Not the lawyers. Not a marbled statue. Not the trappings of the court....I believe there is justice in our hearts.”

Students from Parkland HSand Bethlehem Catholic HS learned about the court system during a powerful Law Day program event held May 1 at the Edward N. Cahn U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building in Allentown.

The students were escorted to the building’s third floor and the courtroom of the Honorable Judge Joseph F. Leeson, Jr. It was there they were briefed on how a courtroom trial is conducted, and the role each court member plays. Students then volunteered or were appointed positions for a mock trial.

The case featured the fictional dilemma of a high school student named Andy Jackson and his girlfriend, Sarah Sommers. Jackson is a star basketball player nicknamed “The Gunner” for his basketball shooting marksmanship, with a sterling career as collegiate athlete possibly awaiting him.

In the make-believe case, Jackson and his girlfriend split. She takes to social media and posts photos less than flattering of Jackson. To complicate matters further, she acquires a new boyfriend who is also a star on the hardwood and plays for Jackson’s rival school. To retaliate, Jackson visits social media and recites course hip hop lyrics from a favorite rapper which read, in part, “The Gunner is Locked and Loaded.” He also uses symbols as a threat against his former girlfriend and rival basketball player. The fictional Jackson is placed on trial as a defendant for his alleged threats.

The students learned the case is fundamentally a question of whether Jackson’s threats were objective or subjective. It also required the high school students to contemplate the burden of proof the prosecution much attain to win a conviction, and the extent to which the First Amendment protects freedom of speech.

Parkland students Andrea Maghacot and Snehal Gupta helped present the prosecution’s case, and focused on how the jilted boyfriend’s threats – regardless of his intentions – were perceived by Sommers as a threat. The prosecution also told the jury that it was impossible for them to get “inside Jackson’s head” to ascertain whether he would act on his rhetoric or not. Reaching that plateau was not required for a conviction.

The defense’s primary rebuttal – argued in part by Parkland students Kaitlin Shaul and Matthew Oehrlein – was based on the First Amendment right of all Americans to free speech. They added the hip hop lyrics were an “artistic statement” that helped Jackson convey his emotional disappointment with the turn of events. The legal team concluded by stating Jackson made no attempt to actually implement the song’s threatening lyrics he used on social media.

After closing arguments the case went to the fictional jury, which featured initially a hung jury. After further discussions, the nine students found the defendant – the fictional Andy Jackson – not guilty. They concluded that while Jackson’s social media response may not have been prudent, it was not criminal.

The students learned the American legal system isn’t perfect, but it will be closer to that plateau if they act with justice in their hearts.