"The Law and Justice program is a collaborative effort that grew out of a commitment to provide students from a range of backgrounds with a deeper understanding of the principles and practices of the legal system. Our mission is to empower all students and give them the knowledge, tools, and opportunities to be critical thinkers and effective participants in a democratic society, as youth now and professionals tomorrow."
—Eliza P. Fabillar, Project Director
Law and Justice is a program of the Learning and Teaching Division at Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC). EDC is a global nonprofit organization that designs, delivers and evaluates innovative programs to improve education, health promotion and care, workforce preparation, communications technologies, and civic engagement.
Law and Justice was funded by The James Irvine Foundation as part of its Linked Learning initiative. The Linked Learning approach to education combines strong academics and real-world experience to help students build a strong foundation for success in college and careers—and in life. ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Career distributes the Law and Justice curriculum in California.
Our Team
Project director: Eliza Fabillar. Primary developer and instructional designer: Jessica Juliuson. Jennifer Davis-Kay, Amanda Dorris, Vivian Guilfoy, Roy Karp (Civic Ed Project), Ilene Kantrov, Nahia Kassas, Katie Loesel, Lorena Martinez-Diaz, Elena Palanzi, Anne Shure, Jason Tranchida
Our Advisors and Partners
The curriculum has been designed with substantial input from secondary and post-secondary educators, students, and professionals from the legal system who have contributed to all phases of development.
- Augustine Ayala, Reseda High School
- Maryam Ahranjani, American University
- Ruthe Ashley, State Bar of California Law Academy Strategic Task Force
- Barrie Becker, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids
- Ina Bendich, Excel High School Torrance Bynum, City College of San Francisco
- Terri Cannon, Western Association of Schools and Colleges
- Alise Cayen, Reseda High School
- Fred Chavaria, City College of San Francisco
- Joseph Coffee, National Partnership for Careers in Law, Public Safety, and Corrections
- Andrew Ferguson, David A. Clarke School of Law
- Christine Hiroshima, San Francisco Unified School District
- Robert Hurt, LEADS at San Diego High School
- Delores Jones-Brown, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
- Bill Koski, Youth and Education Law Project
- Pat Lee, The State Bar of California
- Allen Mooney, Richmond High School
- Janet Muirragui, Deer Valley High School
- Terry Nafisi, United States District Court
- Andrew Peterson, Granite Hills High School Elizabeth
- Rindskopf Parker, McGoerge School of Law, University of the Pacific
- Sarah Redfield, Franklin Pierce Law Center
- Jayne Salinger, Bar Association of San Francisco
- Brian Smith, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
- Abdi Soltani, ACLU of Northern California
- Ken Torre, San Jose City College
- Jerry Winthrop, California Department of Education
We also want to acknowledge organizations who provided materials to include in the curriculum, gave us permissions to use their primary and secondary documents, enabled us to link to or reference their Web sites, or shared their experiences and stories. These organizations include Calamari Educational Media, Vera Institute of Justice, The Constitutional Rights Foundation, The Innocence Project, The Sentencing Project, among others.