Home

Your True Story

Teleclass Schedule

 J. Leonard Hornstein:
His Students Call Him "Judge"

J. Leonard Hornstein received his law degree from New York University School of Law in 1954 and practiced law in Jersey City, New Jersey, with his father, Isidore, before he was appointed to the bench by Governor Brendan Byrne in January 1977. After serving 15 years in the juvenile/domestic relations and landlord/tenant courts in Hudson County, Judge Hornstein, stepped down from the bench in 1992. But he wasn’t about to "stay home and vegetate," and he had never found golf and fishing sufficiently stimulating. For the next nine years, he taught landlord/tenant law at the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education.

Then his courtroom experiences with juveniles -- "preteens having trouble in school"-- suggested a new direction. He decided to become an elementary school teacher. So, Leonard Hornstein enrolled at New Jersey City University, pursuing a degree in special education, two courses a semester. He did his student teaching at the A. Harry Moore School in Jersey City, where he had grown up, working with boys between ages 10 and 12 with developmental disabilities. In May 2001, he received his Masters degree in special education. The subject of his thesis: Inclusion.

"The whole idea behind Inclusion is to put kids with disabilities in classrooms with other children. It used to be called 'main streaming'. Classrooms are set up to accommodate kids in wheelchairs." To complete his thesis, Judge Hornstein interviewed several school principals. His thesis is relatively short, "just 22 pages. When I wrote my opinions as a sitting judge, I believed in getting right to the point," he says.

Many of Judge Hornstein’s students receive both physical and speech therapy along with their classroom instruction. "You have to be very patient and understanding to work with these youngsters. For many, its a real challenge learning how to subtract. They can print quite well, but cursive writing is difficult." Nonetheless, students get homework assignment every night. And math papers are discussed in class. "I ask each student to write out a difficult equation on the blackboard. That way, I can spot the incorrect answers and the student sees where the mistake occurred."

To his students, he is "Judge." "Being a teacher and a judge is not so different," he says, "the judge has the last word in the courtroom, and the teacher has the last word in class. Both are subject to review by their supervisors: the judge by an appeal court, the teacher by the principal and the Board of Education." On Law Day (May 1), Leonard Hornstein’s students got an introduction to the workings of a real court, when they toured the historic Brennan Courthouse in Jersey City.  You might say the judge turned elementary school teacher is still on the case. 

Home | About Us Contact Us  News  Press Kit

Copyright 2005  2Young2Retire.com, All Rights Reserved
09/08/2005