https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/ en https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/california-high-school-students-compete-become-2025-state-mock-trial-championship-team California High School Students Compete to Become 2025 State Mock Trial Championship TeamKaren.Datangel Tue, 03/11/2025 - 16:51 Feature Update (Mar. 17, 2025): Trinity Pacific Christian School in Ventura County will once again represent the state of California as the winner of the statewide finals and will advance to the National High School Mock Trial Championship in Phoenix, Arizona from May 7-10. See results here. Thousands of students all over the state have donned their best suits and public speaking skills as they acted out various roles in the courtroom. Now it’s time to see who takes top honors.  After weeks of competition, students from 32 California counties gear up for this year's finals of the California Mock Trial Competition, which takes place in Los Angeles from March 14-16.  Participants will argue the fictitious kidnapping case People v. Gold. The defendant Logan Gold has been charged with the kidnapping of Taylor Alexander, who is a rival candidate to Gold’s spouse Harper Dorais in a city council race in the rural mountain town of Emerald Bend, California. Gold is the assistant campaign manager to their spouse and is also the sole hotel owner in town. The prosecution argues that Gold had political and financial motives for abducting Alexander. The defense argues that Gold was without a cell phone and GPS tracking the day Alexander was abducted, which was the day of the city council candidate debate. The pretrial issue centers on a defense motion to exclude a potentially incriminating statement made by Gold while in police custody.  Teach Democracy (formerly known as the Constitutional Rights Foundation) created the California Mock Trial Program in 1980. The statewide program stemmed from a successful model in Los Angeles County and helps students acquire a working knowledge of the judicial system, develop analytical abilities and communication skills, and gain an understanding of their obligations and responsibilities as participating members of our society.  In addition to the mock trials themselves, counties award individual honors to students in courtroom artist and journalist contests.  Check out some highlights from different county competitions in our interactive map below (If you are unable to view the map below, click here). If you wish for your county to be included, contact courtnews@jud.ca.gov with information, photos, and links. California high schools have placed in first or second place four times in the National Mock Trial Competition since 1984. Year School County Place 1989 John Marshall High School Los Angeles 2nd 1994 Arlington High School Riverside 1st 2005 Tamalpais High School Marin 1st 2013 La Reina High School Ventura 2nd https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/tri-counties-judicial-mentor-program-offers-guidance-attorneys-seeking-judgeships Tri-Counties Judicial Mentor Program Offers Guidance to Attorneys Seeking Judgeshipselaine.chan Wed, 12/13/2023 - 14:28 Feature Judicial Mentor programs identify and encourage a broad range of qualified attorneys to consider careers on the bench, while providing them guidance on how to get there.   Three-Counties Solution to Mentor Central Coast Candidates In September 2021, the Superior Courts of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties launched their Tri-Counties Judicial Mentor program. Judges from those courts volunteer their time to provide information and demystify the judicial application and vetting process. The mentor judges also help potential judicial candidates develop career plans and skills to navigate their pathways to the bench. When a court from an attorney’s home county cannot pair the mentee with a judge who specializes in their practice area, the court will refer the mentee to one of the other two collaborating courts. Mentor judges commit to a minimum of four meetings with their mentees per year via phone, videoconference, or in person. The mentorship ends once the mentee submits an application to the Governor’s Office. Mentorship Program Reaches out to Diverse Candidate PoolTo promote inclusivity and diversity of judicial candidates, the mentorship program reaches out to lawyers from underrepresented communities, specialty bars, diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, LGBT communities, and those with disabilities. “I come from a blue-collar background and none of my close professional colleagues and friends had gone through the process before me,” said newly appointed San Luis Obispo County Judge Crystal Seiler. “The mentor program helped me understand what to expect at every stage of the process. In the midst of a process that can leave applicants feeling very vulnerable, having a mentor program that focuses on access, support, and understanding is really wonderful.” Mentorship Program ExpandingOver the last two years, the three courts have received a combined 29 applications and 22 volunteering judges. All applicants have been successfully matched with a mentor. Number of volunteer judges and mentees in each county from 2021–2023.     San Luis Obispo County Judge Rita Federman   “The mentor program has been an invaluable tool to demystify the process and make it more transparent,” said San Luis Obispo County Judge Rita Federman, chair of the Judicial Mentor Committee, the body that oversees the tri-counties program. “Mentees have uniformly expressed their appreciation that they are able to speak directly to a judge who can offer suggestions and guidance about completing the application and respond to questions about our day-to-day work." Learn more about the Tri-counties Judicial Mentor Program. Statewide Effort to Increase Judicial DiversityAccording to data from the Judicial Council of California, for 17 years in a row, California’s judicial bench has grown more diverse. But even with this encouraging trend, approximately 60% of the state’s justices and judges are white men. In addition to making diverse appointments to the bench, California Governor Gavin Newsom in 2021 announced the creation of the California Judicial Mentor Program as a statewide undertaking between the executive and judicial branches to advance the shared goal of an inclusive judiciary that reflects California’s population. That program includes an appellate court program, as well as a trial court mentor program that launched in Los Angeles County and has expanded across the state. A key tool in developing the mentoring programs, the council’s Judicial Diversity Toolkit encourages courts to reach out to underrepresented groups, including individuals with diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds.