Legal issues is a favorite history elective among the seniors
here at Melrose High School. It runs as a College Prep and as an Honors class and has been available for students to
take for multiple years. The class
focuses on the court systems and government in the United States, specifically
those in Massachusetts. Mr. Gerard Tannetta is
the only teacher of the class this year. He is a new teacher here at MHS, but used to teach in the Melrose Veterans
Memorial Middle School. He says, "I like [the class]. It is an interesting class because we look at
controversial topics on whether people are guilty or if someone is liable to sue
or not." In class, the students
practice how the court system works by performing some mock trial cases. In these mock cases, the students take on
the role of a lawyer, a judge or a witness and together they act out their
assigned parts. The class then
decides whether the convicted person would be presumed innocent or guilty. Senior Adam Elmore says “The class
is actually really interesting; it’s cool to see how our court system works and
to learn what rights I have."
By Alyssa McFarland
