Then And Now - A History of the Southern District of California Since 1966
The Southern District of California as currently configured, celebrates 50 years as a federal judicial district in 2016. To commemorate the date, an exhibit documenting the 50 years of the district through
historical cases, buildings, court news, the judges and employees was created and is on display in the James M. Carter and Judith N. Keep United States Courthouse, as well as here in this online version of the exhibit.
Click on each image to enlarge
Ninth Circuit Civics Contest
2020 Essay and Video Contest
The United States District Court in the Southern District of California is excited to announce the 2020 Civics Contest for high school students in the western United States, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. This essay and video contest offers cash prizes and a chance to meet some of the nation’s preeminent jurists and legal practitioners.
“The Right to Vote: Milestone Anniversaries” will be the theme of the contest this year, covering the passage of the 15th Amendment 150 years ago and the 19th Amendment 100 years ago. Students in grades 9-12 in public, private and parochial schools and home-schooled students of an equivalent grade status can write an essay or produce a short video on the topic.
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2019 Essay and Video Contest
The 2019 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest is a circuitwide essay and video competition for high school students. The contest focused on the role of the judicial branch in preserving our constitutional rights. The goal is to help young people to become knowledgeable citizens who are better able to participate in our democracy. Now in its fourth year, the contest is organized by the Ninth Circuit Courts and Community Committee in collaboration with all of the federal courts in the circuit.
The theme of the 2019 contest was “The 4th Amendment in the 21st Century—What is an ‘Unreasonable Search and Seizure’ in the Digital Age?” Students were challenged to write an essay or produce a short video focusing on how the federal courts have applied 4th Amendment protections to electronic data devices, particularly the cellphones upon which almost everyone relies.
Read the Winning Essays   |
Watch the Winning Videos
2018 Essay and Video Contest
The 2018 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest is a circuitwide essay and video competition for high school students. The contest focuses on the individual rights and governmental limitations ensconced in the Constitution. The goal is helping young people to become knowledgeable citizens who are better able to participate in our democracy. Now in its third year as a circuit-wide event, the contest is organized by the Ninth Circuit Courts and Community Committee in collaboration with all of the federal courts in the circuit.
The theme of the 2018 contest was “The 14th Amendment 150 Years After Ratification: What Does Equal Protection Mean to Students?” Students were asked to write an essay or produce a short video explaining how Congress and the federal courts have applied the Equal Protection Clause to public education, whether in admissions, classrooms or on athletic fields
Read the Winning Essays   |
Watch the Winning Videos
2017 Essay and Video Contest
Young people from Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada and Washington have been selected the winners of the 2017 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest, an educational outreach effort sponsored by the federal courts.
“Not to Be Forgotten: Legal Lessons of the Japanese Internment” was the theme of the contest,
which focused on the incarceration of Japanese-American citizens at the outset of World War II and
its relevance today as our government seeks to protect the nation from terrorism. Students were
challenged to write an essay or produce a short video focusing on legal decisions which sought to
strike a balance between national security and civil rights at a time of great uncertainty.
Read the Winning Essays   |
Watch the Winning Videos
2016 Essay and Video Contest
Young people from Arizona, California and the United States Territory of Guam have been selected the winners of the 2016 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest, an educational outreach effort organized by the federal courts of the western states.
The contest, which was open to high school students in nine western states and two Pacific Island jurisdictions, focused on the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Miranda v. Arizona.
Read the Winning Essays   |
Watch the Winning Videos
2015 Essay and Video Contest
The 2015 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest, cosponsored by the Ninth Circuit Courts and Community Committee and the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, was open to high school students in the greater San Diego area. The theme of the contest was “Our Constitution: What the American Dream Means to Me.” Students were challenged to write an essay or produce a brief video focusing on how the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments make possible the American Dream.
All winners will be exhibit and display up on the wall in the Schwartz Courthouse building.
Read the Winning Essays   |
Watch the Winning Videos
Schwartz Broadway Exhibit Winners
This annual event involves school children participating in the San Diego County Bar Association Law Week celebration highlighting the theme "The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States." Children in kindergarten through sixth grade were eligible to participate in the Poster Contest, while students in grades 6 through 12 entered a Video Contest. Awards presented at the annual Law Week luncheon. The original posters are exhibited in the exhibit windows on the north side of the Edward J. Schwartz United States Courthouse.
Click the image to view all the drawing winners