Fifth Graders "Convict" Classmate

The Advocate reports on the conclusion of the 12-week Project for Legal Enrichment and Decision making (LEAD), which resulted in 10-year-old Andrew Ancar being handcuffed and escorted from a Louisiana Supreme Court courtroom.

The Plaquemines Parish District Attorney's Office sponsored the Project L.E.A.D. program. Assistant District Attorney and Project L.E.A.D. coordinator Joy Cossich Lobrano said the project originated in the Brooklyn, N.Y., District Attorney's Office. Terrebonne Parish is the only other Louisiana parish using the program, she said.

Justice Johnson, who presided over the mock trial, said the students learned "that the rule of law protects our freedoms in a democracy and that legal cases are decided by applying the law to the facts, not by the passions of the moment or by public opinion."

Posted by AJR at May 2, 2003 11:08 AM