A Fayette County judge wants to expose high school students to the law of the land: the U.S. Constitution.

Superior Court Judge Christopher C. Edwards will teach a free class on the topic for 15 weeks on Saturdays at the Fayette County Public Library. The class starts Jan. 10 and runs from 10 a.m. to noon in Fayetteville and is open to the first 150 approved applicants, who must include a copy of their last report card as proof of their minimum B grade point average requirement.

The class will focus on a number of landmark decisions made by the U.S. Supreme Court, honing in on the actual basis for those decisions versus the common legends, which often aren’t correct, Edwards said.

In the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, for example, many people believe the case was based on a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body, “only that’s not the basis of the decision,” Edwards said.

Participants will study the actual written decisions handed down by the court, Edwards noted.

The class will be a good opportunity for students who might be thinking about a law career, Edwards said.

Students will be expected to read a few pages a week to prepare for class, and Edwards also hopes to have them engaged in discussion and also making presentations themselves. He is also hoping to have a few other professionals make contributions to the class, both those in and out of the legal field.

Though there will be no class credit for the course, Edwards said he will give any student who attends a letter of commendation on his official letterhead ... which might of course be handy to mention in a college application.

The course is limited to juniors and seniors with at least a 3.0 grade point average, and up to 150 students will be accepted. The only cost will be for a the $10 book that’s the basis for the study: “The Supremes’ Greatest Hits: The 34 Supreme Court Cases That Most Directly Affect Your Life” by Michael Trachtman.

When visiting local high schools, Edwards said he’s gotten some “really great questions” from students, so he’s looking forward to the course. He also plans to learn more himself by revisiting cases that he hasn’t delved much into recently such as the Marbury v. Madison case which set an early precedent for the role the court would play as a check and balance on the executive and legislative branches of government.

Edwards has visited a number of local elementary schools urging students to learn to read and continue their education so they can be successful. At school assemblies, he points out the dramatic earning power one has by virtue of achieving a college degree.

And by doing so, those students will also dramatically limit their odds of coming before him as a criminal defendant in court, Edwards theorizes.