Touro Law Center and Girl Scouts of Suffolk County have announced an all-new Justice Patch Program. The program was designed to develop a sense of fairness, an understanding of why we have laws and how they can be changed when they don’t work. Girls will learn how laws are designed to help people, and the role that lawyers and judges fill in the community.
CMM Partner Christine Malafi, a former Girl Scout herself, serves on the Board of Governors of Touro Law School, was there to encourage the girls to participate in the Program and to congratulate all involved in creation of the Justice Patch Program.
Touro Law Dean Patricia Salkin stated, “I believe this is a first-of-its kind program between a law school and the Girl Scouts and we are proud to be a part of having girls talk about laws and learn about the justice system.”
Girl Scouts of Suffolk County is the largest youth-serving agency on Long Island, serving more than 40,000 girls and 9,000 adult volunteers. One of every four girls in grades K through 12 in Suffolk County is a Girl Scout. Specific guidelines have been set to earn the patch for all levels of girls involved with the Girl Scouts including Daisy, Brownie, Junior, Cadette, Senior and Ambassador. At the youngest ages, girls will talk about law and rules and consequences. As the girls get older and more mature, they will be involved in more engaging discussions, visit the law school, select a law to research, develop a brochure for community members to understand their rights, and more.
“We are delighted to partner with Touro Law in offering the Justice Patch Program,” says Yvonne Grant, President & CEO of Girl Scouts of Suffolk County. “Honesty and fairness are at the core of Girl Scouting, and the Justice Patch Program is a wonderful way for girls to learn to practice and extol these values.”
Professor Tracy Norton, who teaches at Touro Law and has two daughters who are active members of the Girl Scouts of Suffolk County stated, “The Girl Scouts commitment to public services and Touro Law’s commitment to the community blend perfectly together to create a synergy that will surely benefit generations of girls. I am honestly thrilled to be a part of this program.”
About Touro Law
Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center’s 185,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art law school is located adjacent to both a state and a federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York. Touro Law’s proximity to the courthouses, coupled with programming developed to integrate the courtroom into the classroom, provide a one-of-a kind learning model for law students, combining a rigorous curriculum taught by expert faculty with a practical courtroom experience. Touro Law, which has a student body of approximately 650 and an alumni base of more than 6,000, offers full- and part-time J.D. programs, several dual degree programs and graduate law programs for US and foreign law graduates. Touro Law Center is part of the Touro College system.
Touro Law’s newly implemented Portals to Practice is a cutting-edge, experiential learning program that reconceives and restructures the law school experience. Portals to Practice expands the scope and quality of legal education by focusing on the development of legal professionals, from pre-law through post-graduation.