Press Release  Boston High School Students Graduate from Supreme Judicial Court's Judicial Youth Corps Program

BOSTON, MA — Twenty-three Boston high school students who participated in the Supreme Judicial Court's Judicial Youth Corps (JYC) program this summer today celebrated the completion of their intensive court internships with a graduation ceremony at the Suffolk County Courthouse in Boston. This year was the first time since 2019 that the program was conducted in person since the start of the pandemic. 

Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Kimberly S. Budd presided over the JYC Appreciation Day graduation ceremony as Mistress of Ceremonies. JYC participants, their families, and court staff were in attendance. 

In addition to Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Budd, speakers included Gerald Howland, Esq., Educational Director of the Boston Judicial Youth Corps, and Gabriela Vasquez Rosado, Assistant Educational Director.

On Friday, the Boston students will participate in a mock trial at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse before presiding Judge Angel Kelley of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. 

For over 30 years, the Supreme Judicial Court's Judicial Youth Corps program has provided hundreds of high school students in Boston and Worcester, and in some years Springfield, an environment where they can learn about the rule of law and the judicial branch of government through an intensive educational internship. Students are given the opportunity to interact with judges, lawyers and other court staff and observe the judicial process first-hand. Students participate in mock trials, go on field trips to Boston Police Headquarters and the Nashua Street Jail, visit courtrooms and work in court departments over the course of weekly educational sessions, a program overseen by court employees who mentor the students from May to August.

The Judicial Youth Corps was created in 1991 by then Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Paul J. Liacos. Hon. Roderick L. Ireland, Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court from 2010 - 2014, was actively involved in the program, beginning when he was a Boston Juvenile Court judge. The program was created with the goal of bringing together a diverse group of students to spend their summer learning about the court system. That led to the creation of the Judicial Youth Corps program, a paid internship with a rigorous application and interview process, with over 500 graduates. Graduates have gone on to work in various professions, including working as prosecutors, defense attorneys, in private legal practice, and two have been appointed as judges. Funding for the Boston JYC program is provided by the City of Boston's Youth Fund and the Boston Private Industry Council.

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