Monday, October 12, 2009

Education? You be the judge | PressDemocrat.com | The Press Democrat | Santa Rosa, CA


Education? You be the judge PressDemocrat.com The Press Democrat Santa Rosa, CA:

"Meet Supreme Court Justice Irene Waters. With her pursed lips and dark hair pulled back in a bun, she bears a passing resemblance to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In her jurisprudence, however, Waters may be more like Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who cast the swing vote in many key cases before retiring in 2006."

Waters is more animated than either of those two justices, and even more so than Justice Antonin Scalia.

But Waters wasn’t there for the official start of the court’s new term this week. She’s a member of the fictional high court in “Supreme Decision,” an online game designed to teach schoolchildren about the judicial branch. (We told you she was animated!)

O’Connor, the nation’s first female justice, has a new job description: video game promoter. Frustrated by the fact that two-thirds of Americans are unable to name the three branches of government, among other lowlights of the state of civic knowledge, she is spearheading a project called Our Courts, which develops Web-based games aimed at teaching seventh- and eighth-graders about government.