By LEONARD GRAY

LAPLACE – The WJLO “news team” was miked, lit and ready to hit the “air” with their exclusive interviews with two district judges and a state supreme court associate judge. The two fourth-graders took it all in stride.

For Taylor Atkinson and Lindsey Walker, each 10, it was the climax of Law Day, observed each May 1 to recognize and learn about the legal system. Guests for the program at John L. Ory Elementary School were 40th Judicial District Judges Madeline Jasmine and J. Sterling Snowdy and Supreme Court Justice John Weimer.

Prior to the interviews, shown over the in-house television network, the judges each spoke with classes in the school, answering the tough questions and instructing the students.

For Weimer, it was an opportunity to take off the cloak of mystery which young people sometimes have for the legal system, out of a lack of knowledge and understanding. Elected last year, he succeeded Harry T. Lemmon to the state’s high court.

“All of us, although we love freedom, we simply can’t do what we want, any time we want,” Weimer said.

“Every judge’s nightmare is sending an innocent man to prison,” Weimer responded to another question.

Snowdy, elected in 1997, said he decided to enter law while in college, having given up on a medical career when he discovered “I can’t stand the sight of blood!” He said he was talking one day, as a young attorney, to Judge C. William Bradley, who told Snowdy, “I think you have the judicial temperment.”

That comment put Snowdy on the path to where he is now, sustaining him through his years as an attorney.

Jasmine, elected in 1990, told the young people, “All my cases are serious,” and added that the cases which are toughest for her to decide are child custody cases – because she cares so deeply about the outcome of her decisions on those children’s lives.

The televised interview was carried out with Jovana Mizell, 12, as stage manager, and Steve Draver and Jamaan Kenner, both 12, operating the cameras, all under the supervision of Randy Krieger.

The questions used by the anchor team were distilled from those submitted by sixth-graders in the LaPlace school. The judges responded with coolness and quick-thinking.

An example was when Snowdy was given an accidently flubbed question, intended for Weimer, regarding the district judge’s academic progress to the state supreme court.

“Well, I’m not there yet,” Snowdy responded with a ready smile before detailing the years of academic work required to become an attorney and the five-year requirement to be an attorney before one can run for a district judge seat.