This Experiential Education course includes travel during Project: Pomfret, with an associated additional fee. Financial aid may be available.

Travel to: Montgomery, Alabama
Certificate Pursuit: Social Justice
Additional Fee: $2,400

For many Americans, the main interaction with the criminal justice system is through television; Cops, Law & Order, The Wire, and Orange is the New Black are just a few of the dozens of shows that dramatize the criminal justice system.  However, for too many people, particularly those who are poor, immigrants, or BIPOC, the criminal justice system plays an outsize role in their lives in ways that are often overlooked by the dramas we watch on our small screens.

The purpose of this course is to introduce Pomfret students to the five main elements of the criminal justice system: the law, the police, the courthouse, incarceration, and the process of reentry into society.  Beyond simply learning about the system, this course will be grounded in experiential, hands-on learning.  We will meet with Pomfret alums and local officials involved in the legal system; we will complete Case Studies about wrongly convicted citizens; we will volunteer our time and energy to work with local non-profits; we will take a variety of field trips, both to local courthouses, and to Montgomery, Alabama, to visit the The National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum during Project: Pomfret.  The end goal of this course is to empower each student to find his/her own voice to push for real-wold reforms to help create a more fair, equitable system for all.

This course is open to rising juniors and seniors; departmental approval is required.