Law-Related Education--More Than "Ally McBeal"

* Poll taxes were once legal in the U.S.

* Students do not have the same rights as adults to free speech and free press.

* Criminal and civil courts operate according to the same standards of judgment.

How did you do?

Maybe you don't need law-related education (LRE) after all. But, if you're like most Americans, chances are LRE wouldn't hurt. LRE isn't a new concept, nor one limited to the U.S; what is new is the increasing participation of judges and courts. They, too, have come to realize that LRE can make a difference not only in people's understanding of the law and their rights and responsibilities, but in developing citizenship and enhancing trust in our nation's system of justice. That's no mean feat considering the source of our citizenry's legal knowledge and the sometimes disappointing extent of that knowledge.

Consider the following:

* Of 800 high school students nationwide who participated in a week-long civic education program, 54 percent said TV was their source for news and information about the law. Students who regularly watched "Ally McBeal," however, should probably not rely on the series if they have legal problems. The show's regular viewers were much more likely to score "medium low" (3-4 correct answers) or "low" (0-2 correct answers) on the knowledge index, compared with those who regularly watched other popular law or law-related shows. The survey [http://www.abanet.org/publiced/lawday/st... was conducted in February and March by the American Bar Association (ABA) in cooperation with the Washington, D.C.-based Close Up Foundation.

* A 1999 ABA poll [http://www.abanet.org/media/perception/j... of 1,000 adults aged 18 or older, which was conducted to determine their perceptions of the U.S. justice system, revealed the following:

-- When asked where they acquired their knowledge of the justice system,

* 83 percent of respondents said from social studies classes in grade school,

* 82 percent from high school civics or government class, and

* 67 percent from personal experience.

-- The higher the level of the respondents' knowledge, the less reliant they were on news media as a source of that knowledge.

-- Sixty-one percent of respondents wanted to learn more about the justice system, and of those, 75 percent wanted to learn from current or retired judges.

* In a 1999 [http://www.ncsc.dni.us/ptc/NAP/part_1.ht... survey, "How the Public Views State Courts," conducted by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and funded by The Hearst Corporation:

-- 23 percent of the respondents said they have a "great deal" of trust in the courts in their communities and an additional 52 percent have "some trust.

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