Day 2: Crime, Prisons, Budgets and PR - A Typical Day in California Politics

I didn't hear a thing from the kid last night.

That either means she was having fun or they had exhausted her and there was no life left in her fingers to text. Since I have never, ever seen her unable to text, I'm guessing it's going well.

Today they start with the Third Appellate District Court where they will likely be discussing crime and punishment. I didn't realize we have six appellate courts in California, broken out by the counties they cover and are located all over the state. The Third is in Sacramento.

First they will be with Ellen Eggers, a State Public Defender who is known for her anti-death penalty work. She has a lot of experience in working with complex cases and should be a very interesting speaker.

Then they meet Kent Scheidegger from the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation. Talk about a smart guy - he started out as a physicist and served for six years in the United States Air Force as a Nuclear Research Officer and then went back and got his law degree. The wrap the morning with a debate.

In the afternoon, they will be at the Capitol meeting with legislators - who are back today from their summer break. This is their final month in session and according to the news, they have a lot on their plate in the next four weeks. 

The kids will also get to do a budget simulation (you can do it here) which we make we want to end the day with Happy Hour but alas, they are too young. So they go back to campus to eat dinner and get some PR training with media specialists (now we're talking - this is getting interesting!).

Hopefully I'll get at least a selfie photo at some point. Bah, who knows. What a Monday!

The agenda for today:

Time	Activity
7:45 am – 8:45 am	Breakfast – Segundo Dining Commons
9:00 am	LOAD BUSES to Sacramento
10:00 am – 11:00 am	Third Appellate District Court Ellen Eggers – State Public Defender
11:00 am – 12:00 pm	Kent Scheidegger – Criminal Justice Legal Foundation
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm	JSA Debate
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm	Lunch
2:00 pm – 3:00 pm	State Capitol Building Meet with Your Legislators – Capitol Building
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm	Next 10 CA Budget Simulation with Sarah Henry – Room 112
5:00 pm	LOAD BUSES back to Davis
5:30 pm – 6:15 pm	UC Davis Dinner – Segundo Dining Commons
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm	Public Relations Training with Media Specialist Brian Green & Veronica Rodriguez – Wellman 106
8:30 pm – 10:00 pm	Free Time/Work on Group Project
10:00 pm	Floor Meeting
11:00 pm	Curfew