Justice Sotomayor to address civic education at New York State Bar Association event

The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is set to host a Civics Convocation, featuring U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor as a speaker, focusing on the critical need for enhanced civic education in New York and across the nation. 

Scheduled for May 9 at the Bar Center in Albany, the event will see Justice Sotomayor, a renowned figure in the legal community and a board member of the civic education nonprofit iCivics, deliver virtual remarks followed by a Q&A session with students.

This convocation aims to tackle the concerning gap in basic civic knowledge among Americans, many of whom struggle to identify the three branches of government or their civic duties. Richard Lewis, president of the NYSBA, highlighted the urgency of addressing this educational crisis amidst rampant misinformation.

“We are at a crisis point in civic education in New York and the nation,” Lewis said. “In an endless sea of misinformation, how can we better prepare our students and ourselves to think more critically about what we read and hear? If we don’t have a collective understanding of how our government functions, it will be difficult — if not impossible — for us to play the very important roles of citizens in this democracy.”