Spotlight On: Law Related Education Prosecutors Involved in LRE Programs

by Lee Arbetman1

Introduction

Law-related education programs, frequently called LRE, teach non-lawyers about practical aspects of law and the legal system while improving understanding of basic democratic principles and increasing commitment to the rule of law. Most LRE programs are delivered to youth in K - 12 school settings. Interactive teaching strategies such as simulations, role-playing, mock trials and moot courts, case studies, field experiences, and group projects characterize these exciting programs. Innovative LRE programs have also been developed for use in community and juvenile justice-based settings including after school programs, detention, and training schools.

A variety of studies, including an OJJDP-funded evaluation, have found that when properly implemented, LRE programs can reduce delinquent behavior among participating youth while increasing important civic knowledge and skills.2 A key feature of “proper implementation” is the regular use in LRE lessons of well-prepared volunteers from the justice system. Lawyers, law students, judges, police officers and others provide critical legal information not otherwise readily available to teachers and other professionals. In addition, they represent powerful, positive role models for the students in LRE classes. In many instances they also help young people explore new and interesting career options.

District attorneys have long been important resources to LRE programs in communities across the country. Perhaps more than most, they see the high cost of young people who have made poor life choices based on lack of information—or misinformation—about the law. This issue of In Re profiles a few of the many district attorneys who are making their communities safer and healthier by participating in law-related education programs. Through the Youth for Justice program, OJJDP has established a national network of statewide LRE centers. Through this program, OJJDP also supports several national organizations that develop LRE programs and materials, conduct research on best practices, and provide technical assistance to the state LRE centers. Information on the state and national LRE programs is available at the end of this newsletter.

Bronx, New York City

The district attorney’s office in the Bronx reaches out to the community and emphasizes prevention efforts through “The People’s Court.” Elementary school students can try to solve personal and school conflicts internally within the school, or they can come to the district attorney’s office and act out a trial to resolve problems.

Not all programs are designed by the district attorney’s office and then offered to the community. In the Bronx, the community communicated what was needed, and the district attorney’s office responded. Counselors and principals from the Theodore Roosevelt High School expressed concern over rising relationship violence between young people in the school. The district attorney’s office created and implemented curricula and services to these young people about relationship violence and how to protect themselves.

Staten Island, New York City

The Staten Island district attorney’s office organizes and coaches high school students in mock trial programs. Prosecutors lecture on such topics as drug issues and graffiti problems. In addition, they conduct tours of the office and courthouse and accept high school students, college students and law students for internships. Many young people who start off as high school interns at the office end up becoming attorneys and returning to work for the district attorney’s office.

Manhattan, New York City

In Manhattan, the district attorney is involved with an extensive list of programs and curricula. The office provides lectures on various subjects, including “stop and frisk,” criminal procedure, Internet crime, drug crimes, bias and hate crimes, and career planning. It also provides publications on specific topics. Each lecture and publication follows a similar format: Each begins with a scenario, followed by questions and answers, and concluding with a discussion session. Lectures on gangs and gang involvement come in two forms: a teaching curriculum and a “scared straight” curriculum. The assistant district attorney who participates in these lectures is creating a videotape of the session to meet the extraordinarily high demand for his seminar.

Akron, Ohio

As part of a broader community prosecution effort initiated by the prosecutor in Summit County, four assistant prosecutors serve on the Akron Bar Association’s Street Law Committee to enhance the local school system’s Street Law curriculum.

The prosecutor’s office also created a “Safety Kids” calendar for middle and elementary schools illustrated by local children to send a safety message to other children. The office is developing a mock trial program to be implemented in the fifth grade classrooms of a local elementary school.

Matching students with prosecutors for the “shadow” program is another innovative and challenging initiative in Summit County. Students spend time with local prosecutors learning about the role of the prosecuting attorney and the operation of the justice system. Once students are matched, most prosecutors find the student’s perspective provides a gentle reminder to the prosecutor of the public nature of their work and an opportunity to explain how a prosecutor’s duty is to seek justice in any given case, not merely to convict.

San Jose, California

The district attorney’s office in Santa Clara County, is involved with the training and coordination of law-related education as part of the actual curriculum in the public schools. The district attorney’s office has been training teachers and providing outside resources to over 100 fifth grade classrooms, all of which teach law-related education as the social studies requirement for that year.

Specially-trained teachers, textbooks, professionally designed curricula, and extensive use of resource people from the legal field all combine to create a comprehensive course in law and the courts for these young people. Lawyers may come into a classroom to facilitate a mock trial, a police officer may speak about what a “good police officer will do in a specific situation,” or students may come to the courthouse for tours.

Challenges with working so closely with the school systems do arise. Teachers must be trained well and allot time to teach the LRE curriculum when so many other subjects are competing for time. Still, the 50 to 60 attorneys involved in this program appreciate the opportunity to speak to “good, inquisitive kids” and to teach them about the system in hopes of deflecting some of them from becoming a part of it as criminal defendants.

For more information about law-related education in your state, click on http://www.abanet.org/publiced/lre/lrestate.html, then scroll down to your state to find the LRE center and contact information for the center’s director. There are also several national LRE programs that develop curricula, provide training and technical assistance and work with evaluators to identify and promote best practices. Contact information for the national LRE programs follows.

American Bar Association
541 North Fairbanks Court
Chicago, IL 60611-3314
312-988-5735
FAX 312-988-5494
abapubed@abanet.org
www.abanet.org/publiced

Center for Civic Education
5146 Douglas Fir Road
Calabasas, CA 91302
800-591-4223
FAX 818-591-9330
center4civ@aol.com
www.civiced.org

Constitutional Rights Foundation
407 S. Dearborn, Suite 1700
Chicago, IL 60605
312-663-9057
FAX 312-663-4321
Pereira@crfc.org
www.crfc.org

Constitutional Rights Foundation
601 S. Kingsley Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90005
213-487-5590
FAX 213-386-0459
todd@crf-usa.org
www.crf-usa.org

Phi Alpha Delta
Public Service Center
345 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-347-3118
FAX 410-347-3119
psc@pad.org
www.pad.org

Street Law, Inc.
1600 K Street, NW
Suite 602
Washington, DC 20006
202-293-0088
FAX 202-293-0089
larbetman@streetlaw.org
www.streetlaw.org

For additional information about the Bronx programs, please contact Lisa Payne Wansley, Director of Community Affairs, (718) 590-2272.

For additional information about the Staten Island programs, please contact Richmond County District Attorney’s Office, (718) 876-6300.

For additional information about the Manhattan programs, please contact Community Affairs Unit, (212) 335-9082.

For more information about the Summit County programs, please contact John Mascolo, (330) 643-2800.

For more information about the Santa Clara programs, please contact Santa Clara District Attorney’s Office, (408) 792-2770.

1 Lee Arbetman, Director of US Programs at Street Law, Inc. Research assistance was provided by Sarah Shapiro, a third year law student at Boston University School of Law

2 Law-Related Education Evaluation Project, Final Report (1983), submitted by the Center for Action Research and Social Science Education Consortium, Boulder, CO to the National Institute for Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.