 Hello, I'm Javier Hernandez reporting from Washington. Every year our federal courtrooms become classrooms for high school students. The judiciary's outreach program uses topics that impact young people's lives to explain our legal process. This year, students experience true-to-life legal proceedings involving the downloading of music and movies from the internet. Here comes the marshal. Judge Lowell Reed is all smiles today in court. This Philadelphia courtroom is filled with local high school students and none of them is in trouble. We operate here in the federal court with the rules of evidence. Nearly 2,000 miles away, Judge Ann Williams is hosting a similar group in Chicago. In both cities, the students are taking part in the judiciary's outreach program open doors to federal courts. It's an interactive lesson on our legal system. And therefore it's a responsibility on the part of the court to have its judges reach out to help the public understand the system better. The program includes topics that appeal to young people. In this mock trial, a fictional student, Luke Simmons, is charged with illegally downloading and distributing music and movies. You alleged that my part was illegally downloading your company's song. Role-playing is a big part of the lesson plan. And to keep things as real as possible, legal professionals guide the students through the trial. I mean, it's fun to see the students actually get very involved and act out things and take a personal stake in the case. And as they get to asking questions and being very inquisitive, that's always very fun to see. Does your company have nothing better to do than sue and prosecute college students? Objection, argument, sustain, tone it down, counsel. I know I was just reading it and I kind of put a lot of power into the words to try to make them believe what I was saying, just like a lawyer would. Finding out what real lawyers do and knocking down some of the stereotypes is also part of the lesson. It's not that whole law and order type feel of jumping all over and, you know, angry lawyers yelling and stuff like that. It just seemed more of a laid back feel than what they portray on television movies. Really, a trial is about, it's not about hiding information and bringing it out at the last minute and having a big gotcha moment. It's about really making sure that a jury has all the evidence that's appropriate to have before them and to have an opportunity to consider it and deliberate about it to reach a just and fair verdict. This experience made me realize the importance of being on a jury and about how we truly do have a say as citizens and what happens in our courtrooms. And the learning doesn't stop with the trial. They asked a lot of questions, they asked questions about how did I go to law school, you know, how did I pay for law school, did I apply for scholarships and those are things that are very important because, you know, most of their families or at least the young lady I was talking to said, you know, I can't afford, my parents can't afford to pay for school so clearly I'm going to have to get scholarships or find some other way. How did you do it? The most important lesson of the day is that they will soon become part of the legal process. As adult American citizens and potential jurors, they will have responsibility to their communities and to the country. Teaching them what a trial is like, even though it's the short trial we used and short amount of deliberations is to try to convey what that responsibility is and how heavy that responsibility is and that they do hold a life in their hands and hopefully will encourage them if they get a subpoena to serve on a jury to have the right attitude to feel like they are making a contribution to the country and that what they do counts. To find out more about the Open Doors to Federal Courts program, contact Rebecca Fanning, the National Outreach Manager. You can reach her at 202-502-2611. Again, that number is 202-502-2611. Reporting from Washington, I'm Javier Hernandez.