(Furthering our Understanding and Tolerance by Using our Resources in Education)

This program was started in the fall of 1992. District Attorney William J. Fitzpatrick and other members of his office are assigned to a fifth grade class in a school within the county, where they visit on a regular basis. The goal of the program is to teach the students about the criminal justice system, laws, rules and consequences their for actions. Currently, the program is in the following schools: Blessed Sacrament, Chestnut Hill Elementary, Delaware School, Grimshaw Elementary, Huntington School, Jamesville-DeWitt Middle School, Lakeland Elementary, LeMoyne School, Liverpool Elementary, McKinley-Brighton School, Most Holy Rosary, Our Lady of Pompei, Palmer Elementary, Roberts School, St. James, St. Margaret’s, St. Patrick’s, Salem Hyde School, Edward Smith School, Our Lady of Solace School, Solvay Elementary, Van Duyn School, Dr. Weeks School, Wheeler Road Elementary.

Since the inception of this program in 1992, over 20,000 students have participated in this program. As part of the curriculum, the students visit the Onondaga County Courthouse and Justice Center. This program is modeled after Project Legal Lives, which Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes started in 1990. In addition to Onondaga County, there are over twenty district attorney offices around the United States who have replicated the program since District Attorney Fitzpatrick brought it to our community.