As part of a project generously funded by the Open Society Institute,
the Human Rights Campaign Foundation is excited to share our Justice
for All program on the courts and gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender rights. Justice for All includes a curriculum/facilitator's
guide and DVD designed for use with students in middle
schools, high schools and colleges, as well as anyone else who is
interested. The facilitator's guide focuses on the courts and civil
rights and contains lots of creative activities designed to spark
discussion. Activities are tailored to specific age groups. The
accompanying DVD provides additional information about the relationship
between the courts and GLBT rights.
We look forward to distributing and/or presenting the curriculum and
DVD to as many people as possible. Interested students and teachers can
come to the Human Rights Campaign Equality Center in Washington, D.C.,
for presentation of the curriculum, or we may be able to come to them
to present the curriculum. We are also glad to work with others to
others who are interested.
Here are some examples of what is included in the curriculum:
- Introduction to the federal courts. What do the federal courts, including the Supreme Court, do? What kind of cases do they decide? What are the various federal courts? How are judges put on the federal courts?
- Students act out a Senate hearing on a Supreme Court nominee. One student is the nominee, others are senators on the Judiciary Committee who ask the “nominee” questions. Discuss past hearings with the students, e.g., the nomination hearings of Robert Bork, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and the nomination process.
- What is an “activist judge”? How is this term used, and what does it really mean? Consider specific ways in which the term is used — for example, to attack judges who decide cases enforcing equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans.
- Mock arguments of cases. Students act as lawyers and judges, arguing and deciding cases based on real cases decided by the Supreme Court and other courts.
Please watch for supplemental curriculum to be posted on the Justice for All website or join our Facebook page for regular updates.
If you know students, teachers, principals, church groups or other individuals or groups who might be interested in our curriculum, please let us know, or ask them to contact us at justiceforall@hrc.org.