UISD Students Participate in Color of Justice Program

Posted Date: 05/11/2023

United ISD high school students got the opportunity to check out first hand how the criminal justice system works by participating in the Color of Justice Program. The program led by 341st District Court Judge Beckie Palomo, invited over 120 junior students from different high schools in the community to learn about a variety of career opportunities in law. Students were paired with different legal professionals which allowed them to learn about family, civil and criminal cases in the federal and state court houses. Each school picked out ten 11th graders to have the opportunity to be exposed early on to the legal professions, before they begin applying for college and deciding on their careers. Some of the career options they learned about included: bailiff, court reporter, clerk, court interpreter, judge, attorney among others. The Color of Justice Program was implemented by Judge Palomo around 8 years ago, but had to be put on pause for 2 years during the pandemic. 

“The mission of the Color of Justice Program is to encourage, educate and inspire minority students to pursue a career in the law. It’s personal to me because in Texas there’s 3,500 judges and out of those less than three thousand are female and less than five hundred are hispanic. I want to do my part in making a difference,” said Judge Palomo.

Judge Palomo added that since starting the program she has seen positive feedback, with the students being inspired to pursue legal professions and returning to work for our county. Students from UISD were excited to have the opportunity to participate in the educational program.