Right To Counsel Curriculum

LJC has developed a curriculum for 8th- and 10th- grade civics students in Louisiana public schools.

The five-session lesson plan includes:

Lesson 1: Purposes of the Criminal Justice System
Lesson 2: "The System": State of Incarceration
Lesson 3: Rights: The Gideon and Gault Decisions
Lesson 4: Wrongs: Wrongful Convictions in Louisiana
Lesson 5: Summary and Civic Action

This lesson plan complies with the curriculum mandates set by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE).

The curriculum is currently being designed for release by December 1, 2021.

This curriculum was made possible through a generous grant from the Louisiana Bar Foundation and through collaborations with the following community partners: Innocence Project New Orleans, Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana, Orleans Public Defenders and Resurrection After Exoneration.