On November 9, 2022, Matt Nadel and other attorneys from the Colorado Lawyers Committee went to Silver Creek High School in Longmont, Colorado, to present a mock trial and lead a discussion with students about hate crimes, how to spot them, and how to stop them.

The mock trial presented a fictional scenario where a high school student pursued both violent and non-violent racially and religiously motivated actions against a teacher and student after not winning an award that he believed he was entitled to win. Discussion topics included why communities at large are the victims of hate crimes even when only one individual is on the receiving end of physical violence, and why it’s important to speak up to stop hateful speech so it does not become normalized.

The Colorado Lawyers Committee is a nonpartisan consortium of lawyers and law firms that creates and increase opportunities for children, the poor, and other disadvantaged communities through advocacy, negotiation, and litigation. The hate crimes education team is a task force within the Colorado Lawyers Committee that puts on mock trials and discussions at schools around Colorado.