Criminal JustiCe Panel insPires students

By Claire Casey

The Sage Hill Internship Program (SHIP) hosted criminal justice professionals for its third and final career panel of the 2022-2023 school year on March 16.

Jody Ward, a forensic psychologist; Orange County Superior Court Judge Ebrahim Baytieh; and Orange County Assistant Public Defender Seth Bank shared their experiences working in the legal field. They discussed the many ethical dilemmas they face in their jobs and how they fit into the criminal justice system, and they shared some advice for Sage Hill students.

All three panelists stressed the importance of trusting the U.S. legal system to handle all trials fairly. Early in his criminal defense career, Bank often grappled with his own guilt when his client was convicted.

“[It feels] like it’s my fault because I didn’t defend my client well enough,” Bank said.

But he also remembers that he did everything that he could and has to trust that the judge is making a fair, impartial decision. And on the other side of that process is a judge who also has to trust the rules of the legal process. Baytieh, a former

Middle School

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While some current students may be concerned about the logistics of parking and traffic, administrators have found a plausible way to ensure a smooth transition. There would be staggered start and end times of the school day to alleviate congestion in the parking lot and drop-off lane and discourage any disruption to middle or high school classes.

Even though the possible middle school is still a few years away from construction, Dr. Balossi said the middle and high schools “would be two completely separate programs. The high school experience that we already know and love will not change. It is important [to] maintain and protect small class sizes and the close-knit relationships between teachers and students at the high school level.”

If and when constructed, Sage Hill plans to enroll about 70 students in both seventh and eighth grades, Merz said. Sage Hill officials would like to primarily attract students from over 250 Orange County public elementary schools that end after sixth grade. As Sage Hill has a partnership and understanding with private feeder schools including The Pegasus School, St. Mary’s School and Harbor Day School, prosecutor with the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, said that when deciding on a case, even if he feels personally biased toward one ruling, he has to decide in favor of the evidence presented to him.

The panelists also agreed on the importance of separating their personal feelings from their work when dealing with difficult situations and cases. This applies when defending someone accused of a violent crime.

“A lot of times there are circumstances that explain why a person made a bad choice,” Bank said.

Even if he personally thinks his client is guilty and should be punished, he has to do his job and defend him or her to the best of his ability. He has to treat his client fairly and try to understand his or her perspective before jumping to judgment. The notion of separating personal feelings from the job also comes up when dealing with distressing cases.

Ward said that a lot of times when she interviews someone in a troubling situation, she has to step back and take a break before returning to her work to avoid burnout. Over the course of her career, Ward has learned that sometimes she has to put middle schoolers at those institutions would be offered “deferred enrollment” and “be able to finish seventh and eighth grade at their feeder school knowing in advance that they [have] secured a spot for ninth grade at Sage Hill School,” Dr. Balossi said. Because of deferred enrollment, “there would be less spots to fill in 9th grade” with students mostly coming from the proposed middle school, Dr. Balossi said.

Senior Andy Du expressed concern about the impact of having fewer open spots for the incoming freshman class and whether that could make admission to the high school more challenging. Some say it may also take away from Sage’s unique asset in bringing students of various backgrounds together into one high school.

“[Sage Hill] may be less diverse since most of the incoming 9th grade class would come from Sage,” Andy said. “[The middle school] would make entering 9th grade more competitive.”

Junior Riley Robinson expressed concern for the prospective location, as well as shift in priorities that could ensue with the possible construction of a middle school. “The space that the middle school would occupy is not that large,” Riley said. “We could use that space for more resources for the high school students.”

She highlighted the benefits in Sage’s signature small class her own mental and emotional health first, and she even stopped working on child abuse cases because it was too painful to hear so many awful stories. When asked about advice for Sage Hill students, Baytieh said to “make the most of the great opportunities you have and aim high so that you can give back.” He encouraged students to take advantage of these privileges and use them to achieve great things, but also remember to help those who have not been so fortunate. sizes and personal attention from teachers, fearing middle school grades could take away from that. School officials emphasized that new faculty members would be hired to teach seventh and eighth grade classes.

A view of the athletics practice field that might host the proposed middle school.

Students across all grade levels also agreed that separation between middle and high school students should be effectively implemented.

“With a middle school, the transition into high school will be a lot more seamless as long as there are some boundaries,” freshman Ella Wong said.

Senior Arman Sajjadian agreed there should be separation between the middle and high schools.

Regarding the importance of keeping a similar environment on campus while taking on this project, Dr. Balossi said that “[the Sage Hill administration] would aim for the impact on students to be as minimal as possible.”

Current Sage Hill students will graduate before the middle school opens, but have expressed a liking as well as hesitance regarding this change. However, this change is an exciting one that signifies a new chapter for the Sage Hill community. School administrators have high hopes for expanding the Sage Hill outreach in Orange County, serving a broader demographic to provide more students with a rigorous and diverse education before heading off to college.

As Sage Hill considers this next step, school leaders look forward to “providing the excellent Sage Hill experience to a younger population,” Merz said.