"Everyone's on the take," she said, noting that sentences are based on how much you can pay the judge, who only makes about $200 a month in wages from the government. Police only make about $100 a month.

Because so many lawyers and judges in the Ukraine are entrenched in their ways, David Leavitt said there isn't much hope to reform them. Instead, he's concentrating on the next generation of legal professionals.

"Our jury trial course is very, very heavy on morals and ethics," he said. "They'll get as much of that this year as how to run a jury trial."

By pushing ethics and prodding the government to pay a living wage, Chelom Leavitt said they hope to keep students from falling into that trap.

Lindberg, like other participants, is volunteering her time and sacrificing vacation hours, but finds it thrilling to be essentially shaping history in the Ukraine.

"Can you imagine what good could could come of this? We hope it will make a difference in the lives of these young students and the lives of Ukrainian citizens we may never know," Lindberg said. "Our hope is that in 10-15 years, when these law students are members of Parliament and judges and practicing attorneys, they will be more willing and committed to implementing constitutional guarantees — and will have seen it firsthand."

Leavitt said the Ukrainian government under president Viktor Yuschenko is changing, but slowly. The Ukrainian people, who protested in the streets, are growing impatient. The Leavitt Institute has made valuable contacts with members of the Ukrainian Supreme Court and has found an ally in President Yuschenko's wife.

The group plans to stage a series of "mock trial" competitions next year, involving common Ukrainian citizens to serve on a jury.

"These will be the first jury trials that have ever occurred in the Ukraine," Lindberg said.

She and others hope that interschool competitions ultimately produce a final mock trial viewed by Ukrainian judges and the country's Supreme Court. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Cassell also plans to be involved, Leavitt said.

Later, hopes are to refine the curriculum and expand the program throughout the Ukraine.

A change in the justice system is on the low end of the priority list, but David Leavitt said he is optimistic.

"If freedom has any hope," he said, "it's going to be with the rising generation."

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com; lindat@desnews.com