Dependency Division 31 with Judge Africk-Olefson and Magistrate Plant recently hosted a standing room-only “Cannabis Cards and the Courts” lunch and learn session, featuring a 4-person panel of experts in the field. Medical marijuana doctors, researchers, substance testing, dispensaries, law and legislation were all topics of the two-hour discussion.

Last week, several Broward judges and a magistrate participated in the Jewish Community Center’s Read Across America celebration. Volunteering their time to read to young students at the Susan and Saul Singer Early Childhood Leaning Center were Judge DePrimo, Judge Davis, Judge Schulman, Judge Porth, Judge Gamm, Judge Gottlieb and Magistrate Matalon.

Last Friday, the Central Broward County Courthouse hosted more than 100 high school students from schools across the county as part of the Informed Voters Project, a national initiative developed to educate the public about the constitutional role of the judicial branch and to protect the courts from outside influence. The half-day event was devised by staff with the Broward County Public Schools System, and involved attorneys and judges volunteering their time to lead group sessions in different courtrooms. There was Judicial Jeopardy, Judicial Bingo, and Judicial Q&A sessions to engage the children and help them learn more about the judiciary. Kicking off the morning was a greeting from former Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara J. Pariente, the event’s guest of honor.