Johns Creek Students To Compete in Mock Trial Showdown

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Project Legal Lives, Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. Howard innovative educational program that introduces the criminal justice system to Atlanta and Fulton County elementary schools students, on Thursday will culminate in a sure-to-be dramatic Mock Trial Competition.

The competition will take place at 10 a.m. May 14 at the Fulton County Courthouse.

Students assume the roles of prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, defendants, witnesses, victims and jurors in the competition that simulates the trial of an armed-robbery case. District Attorney staff members judge the competition and award trophies for the best overall performance and a variety of other achievements.

Vying for this year’s top award are Cleveland Avenue Elementary School, Cliftondale Elementary School, E. Rivers Elementary School, F. L. Stanton Elementary School, M. Agnes Jones Elementary School, Renaissance Elementary School, Shakerag Elementary School and State Bridge Crossing Elementary School.

State Bridge Crossing students will take on their counterparts at Cliftondale Elementary School in courtroom 8-H while Shakerag students will go toe-to-toe with M. Agnes Jones students in courtroom 6-G.

Legal Lives, a 15-week course that teaches students about the legal system and the fundamental principles and values upon which this system is based, seeks to instill in students a basic respect for the law through the development of critical and analytical skills.

It also provides role models for students by placing assistant district attorneys in the classroom to teach the course, one of the most appealing aspects of the program for many educators.

Legal Lives was created in 1990 by the Brooklyn (Kings County) District Attorney’s Office in New York City. A version of this program was first implemented in 1993 by then-Solicitor General Howard at Atlanta’s Dean Rusk Elementary School and has now grown to ten schools in Atlanta and Fulton County under Howard’s administration as District Attorney.

Nationally, Legal Lives is replicated by District Attorneys’ offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Indianapolis, Nashville, New Orleans and several other cities.

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