Seventeen-year-old Agustina Pestel and her classmates don’t know exactly why their teachers nominated them to be student guides for Minnesota Supreme Court justices who visited the school Thursday.
But the junior at Highland Park Senior High School, who is interested in journalism and law, met Chief Justice Natalie Hudson along with other student representatives ahead of oral arguments at the school that morning.
“We just got to ask her a lot of questions about not just her personal life, but her life as chief justice, and what it was like in that position, and kind of the sacrifices she’s had to make throughout her life to get to that,” Pestel said. “And she explained a lot that she still gets those nerves, so she tries to bring a little humor into it sometimes.”
The Minnesota Supreme Court’s seven justices gathered at the St. Paul high school to hear the oral arguments on a civil commitment case.
Students Rosemary Egberg, center and Alice Verbrugge, right, listen to Associate Justice Sarah E. Hennesy of the Minnesota Supreme Court at Highland Park High School in St. Paul on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
30 years of school visits
The state Supreme Court first held oral arguments at schools in Rochester in 1995. Highland Park is the court’s 56th in-school visit for oral arguments.
The court tries to visit schools in all 10 judicial districts over the years, Hudson said. Ramsey County is in the Second Judicial District.
“We want our young people to be engaged citizens, and so this gives them an opportunity to see the judicial system at work,” Hudson said. “But it also (is) … as a service to our community as well. To … educate young people about the importance of the judicial branch, the work that we do in protecting rights, that there is a place for people to bring their grievances and how it is we go about resolving those matters in a democracy.”
High schools typically hear oral arguments for criminal cases, though the one at Highland was a civil case. The focus is on selecting cases that are interesting and accessible for students, Hudson said.
“But we try to find a case that has one issue, you know, no more than two, so that they can focus in on that. So something that we think high school students would be interested in and they care about so that they can see how that would relate to their lives,” Hudson said.
Volunteer lawyers and judges also visit classes ahead of oral arguments in order to help students understand what they will be hearing during arguments, she said.
“…We all love these opportunities, because it gets us out of the Capitol, where we hear most of our oral arguments, and gets us out into the community…Young people will ask and say all kinds of things, and that’s great,” Hudson said. “You want to hear what they’re interested in, or what they know about the court system and don’t know, and they’re always very inquisitive…”
Sen Nesje, 14, listens listen as attorneys make oral arguments during a case before the Minnesota Supreme Court in the Highland Park Senior High School auditorium in St. Paul on Thursday, May 1, 2025. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
Hearing from students
After oral arguments concluded, students were able to ask justices about their work, work-life balance and their paths to the court. Later, the justices ate lunch with student representatives and visited classrooms.
Student representative and junior Lynex Lee, 16, sees law as something he might be interested in in the future.
“What I found intriguing about the judges were that some of them didn’t choose to go into being a judge in the first place, and they wanted to be like a lawyer or such,” Lee said. “And then I really felt that you don’t have to be set on one thing …”
Even for students who are not interested in studying law, it plays a role in other fields students will decide to go into, said junior and student representative Alfiya Jarso, 16.
“I think it’s cool because it’s important that we hear about things like this,” Jarso said. “But seeing things in real time and getting a better understanding of how the law system works, especially as students who are trying to find out what they want to be in the future, it’s very important to us that we can kind of experience that, see what we like, and watch it all go down.”
To view the event, go to spps.eduvision.tv/directplayer.aspx?q=63qDJvCLgfGNkbUQQdvNzQ%253d%253d.
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