You can't always blame the education system for the poor state of civics education -- sometimes you get to blame judges.

In a story in Sunday's Union-Tribune about a program to educate teachers on how t teach about the justice system to their students, Superior Court Judge Richard G. Cline had the following take on the role of jurors:

“Students don't realize that the courts are how adults decide their sandbox squabbles,” Cline said in an interview, explaining the inspiration for the institute. “You can change laws and corporate practices by going and serving as a juror.”

You can change laws by serving as a juror? Really. I think the judge is mistaken. Changing laws is usually reserved for legislators -- and judges.