I'm writing this blog from Washington, DC, where our Division will be hosting a summer teacher institute with the Federal Judicial Center. Now in its third year, the "Federal Trials and Great Debates in U.S. History" summer institute engages teachers in study of landmark trials from the lower federal courts. This year's cases include the Aaron Burr treason trial, In re Debs and the Pullman Strike, and the Chicago Seven conspiracy trial.

The institute has become one of the highlights of our year. It's gratifying to work with teachers who are so dedicated to their profession, and to watch the historians and federal judges who join us throughout the institute embrace the opportunity to interact with the teachers. Both academia and the judiciary are perceived as somewhat cloistered professions, but our experiences with the institute have demonstrated that few things are more pleasing to a professor or a judge than the chance to discuss his or her work with others.

Our colleagues at the Federal Judicial Center have over the past few years produced a fantastic set of resources for anyone interested in learning more about how the federal courts have helped to shape some of our most significant national debates. In addition to the three cases we will be studying this year, the FJC has prepared histories of the Sedition Act trials from the early years of our republic, the Amistad trial's challenge to slavery, Ex parte Merryman and Civil War suspensions of habeas corpus, the trial of Susan B. Anthony for voting in a federal election, Chew Heong and the Chinese Exclusion Acts, and Bush v. Orleans Parish , one of the first efforts to enforce the mandate of Brown v. Board of Education. All these units are available for free download from the FJC's website. Simply follow the links to "Federal Judicial History" and "Teaching Judicial History: Notable Federal Trials."

This will be the Division's final post, as the Talking Justice blog prepares to go offline at the end of this month. It has been a pleasure speaking with you on this site. Although we won't be appearing here anymore, you can find always find us at www.abanet.org/publiced. We look forward to hearing from you.