This is my court. And I'll hold you in contempt. The second half of the program consists of a conversation with the kids, during which Martone screens news clips about drunk-driving accidents. The judge rolls up his sleeves and addresses the kids as equals. I ask them to think and to have courage.
Kids know how to make good choices.
Martone's sessions can be disturbing. Then he shows a clip of a drunk driver who killed a mother and her three daughters. Martone began conducting his sessions when he became a district-court judge, in 1993. But like most change agents, he is not content to be a solo innovator. It has an organizational checklist, sample letters to send to school districts, advice on how to structure chats with students, and a sample press release to help spread the word.