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Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Announces Videogame Project

By: Justin Bourne

Posted: 06/09/2008

First American female Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has announced a videogame project aimed at educating the youth about America's court system operations, saying she wanted to counter partisan criticism that judges are "Godless" activists.

O'Connor, 78, who served as U.S. Supreme Court justice from 1981 until her retirement in 2006, said she got on board with the project titled "Our Courts" because of a concern over public ignorance about the judiciary and partisan attacks on what should be an independent institution.
  
"In recent years I've become increasingly concerned about vitriolic attacks by some members of Congress, some members of state legislatures and various private interest groups ... on judges," O'Connor told the Games For Change conference on using gaming technology for social improvement and education.

The Our Courts project will have two parts, O'Connor said. The first is on online interactive civics program designed to be used by seventh- through ninth-graders either to supplement existing courses or as a distinct unit in the curriculum.

The program, developed with Georgetown University law school and Arizona State University, will be distributed free online.

She said the web site at http://www.ourcourts.org/ should have some initial material by this September and be fully operational with interactive elements a year later.