Color of Justice

There were about 30 judges and lawyers all spending their Saturday with our students to put on this mock trial, which was in the same courtroom as the famous Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial. After watching the mock murder trial, our students were put into separate juries and followed a judge and a lawyer to a different jury room, where each jury elected their own foreman and argued about what the verdict would be.

As part of this event, several KAA students participated in an optional essay contest. Junior Zara Malik came in 2nd Place for all of Fairfax County with her essay on how mental illnesses contribute to crimes in our society. She won a certificate from the Asian Pacific American Bar Association and a gift card for $100. Zara said that “I think I won because I wrote from personal experience/a personal perspective.”

In addition to participating in the various juries, several of our students were elected as the Jury Foreman for their juries! At the end of the trial, each Jury Foreman came to the front of the courtroom and read out their jury’s verdict in front of the packed courtroom!

Students learned a lot during this program, even though it was for just a few hours on a Saturday. Junior Sofia Elouassi said that “We learned how trials work, and how the justice system makes decisions and learned the different life stories and how they overcame different live challenges and obstacles.”

Sophomore Rose Alnefisah added that “The color of justice program has helped me a lot. It has helped me figure out what exactly I want to do.”

One of the high points of the event was when Judge Razan Fayez, the mother of a KAA graduate, volunteered to speak with KAA students during lunch, since the KAA students were all fasting for Ramadan. 6th Grader Lauren Balobaid said that “it was really exiting that we got to have a Q&A session with Judge Fayez the first woman Muslim judge in Virginia.” Lauren added that “I always wanted to be a lawyer and now I’m also considering being a judge.”

After hearing Judge Fayez speak, Sofia Elouassi added that “It was very inspiring to see someone with a similar background/religion be appointed as a judge. The fact that it was 2024 and she was the first Muslim judge in Virginia was even more shocking.”

Freshman Yusur Al-Qaraghuli said that “The Color of Justice program was worth it. I was glad to attend even though I was fasting. I came with a little interest in law and left being extremely fascinated and interested in possibly pursuing a future in law.”