The Orange County Bar Association honored Cindy Schmidt, a former criminal defense attorney now a teacher in the Boone High School Law Magnet Program, with the “Liberty Bell Award.”
After 14 years of practicing criminal defense law, Schmidt visited Boone High during Law Week, and was amazed at what she saw in the Law Magnet Program. As a result, Schmidt became a full-time teacher at Boone. Students in the program study cases, write appellate briefs, and conduct oral arguments.
The “Liberty Bell Award” recognizes a person who promotes a better understanding of the American form of government and the Bill of Rights, encourages greater respect for law in the courts, educates people in the contrast between totalitarianism and freedom under law, and stimulates a deeper sense of individual responsibility to the end that citizens recognize their duties, as well as their rights.
“Many of my students will leave the law magnet and seek a different career in college. They won’t all be attorneys. But they all will be consistent and informed voters, and dedicated jurors. I am proud of each of them,” Schmidt said.
As her mother, I can also testify that Cindy worked hard on her students’ writing and speaking logically and persuasively, on her students’ understanding of the high ethics required for success at school and in later life, and on her students’ respect for each others’ opinions especially when they disagreed.