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 Legal
Lives brings the criminal justice system to Brooklyn’s
elementary school classrooms. District Attorney’s staff,
private attorneys, corporate volunteers, judges from Supreme
and Criminal Courts and teachers work together to teach
students about the law and its role in their lives.
Legal Lives was founded in 1990 by Charles J. Hynes,
District Attorney of Kings County, as a response to the
increase in drug and bias-related crimes. District Attorney
Hynes believes that, “Until the same emphasis is placed on
education and treatment that is placed on arrest and
prosecution, the war on drugs and bias-related crimes will
never be won.”
Today, Legal Lives is reaching over 10,000 Brooklyn students
and their parents, in 330 classrooms. Six hundred District
Attorney staffers and 300 teachers collaborate on the weekly
interactive lessons, the take home lessons, the radio show
and the mock trials. |
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The Legal Lives curriculum
is written specifically to increase the students’ knowledge
of the law and to prevent juvenile delinquency through the
development of critical and analytical thinking skills.
Lessons in the curriculum examine relevant case materials
related to drug possession, shop lifting,
violence, gun possession, domestic violence and bias crime.
These lessons, which encourage interactive learning through
role-playing and group discussions, culminate in a mock
trial.
Issues raised in the classroom are reinforced through trips
to the courts, police precincts and the District Attorney’s
office.
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