Lauren Doninger has left a new comment on your post ""Maybe It Should Be Called Douchestock ... "":
During a break on the fourth day of the preliminary hearing for injunctive relief in federal court, New Haven, the ACLU attorney, Professor Martin Margulies, asked if this process had piqued Avery’s interest in law. The answer to that question was and is a declarative, NO! The process has been grueling in every conceivable way. It is not a system that Avery (or I) would like to participate in regularly – preferably, never again!
I went on to describe to Professor Margulies how disappointing and humbling it was to realize the difficulty involved with seeking redress through the courts. Had we possessed one less resource in any area – and financial was just the beginning; less information technology; literacy; work flexibility (could a 7-3 laborer take 4 days off to go to court? Doubtful); reliable transportation; wardrobe; etc., we could not have brought this action. When Colin writes about the Parkville shootings, the disparity resonates with me.
Communities can’t afford to fight only one battle for justice at a time – it’s too much a game of whack a weasel. It is exactly because of the abuses of power, such as Colin cites; that Avery’s speech needs to be protected.
I hope that Avery and the cohorts at Lewis S. Mills High School who have been actively involved in this process will take the experience and develop a broader sense of responsibility for ensuring social justice, as well as an example of how it is done (e.g., poets and writers give of their time and take a position!). This group of incredibly entitled kids who are part of what I’ll call generation inertia (with helicopter parents, present company included, hovering) is witnessing and participating in social action – we need another Woodstock generation.
I hope that some of these teens will take this experience and grow to become public school educators who do NOT fall prey to the sense of tyrannical power that led the LSM administrators down this path. I hope that some become civil rights lawyers like Jon L. Schoenhorn, who take on a case like this for a tiny, symbolic retainer – because it’s the only way people will defend their civil liberties. I hope that some will become writers and commentators who think globally and push readers to consider a larger context. I hope that some will become politicians who work toward real solutions to what is happening in Parkville and Darfur. I hope that these kids will be part of a generation that stops the erosion of civil liberties.
October 14th 1 to 6 – Litchfield Inn – come hear some of CT’s best and brightest writers and poets, hear some of the LSM bands that Avery so passionately wanted to play in the new taxpayer funded auditorium that she lost her 16 year old temper, come buy a banned t-shirt that an LSM student designed because he understood fundamental principles of democracy. Come because it’s Douchestock and too many of the Woodstock generation have become THE MAN!
Posted by Lauren Doninger to The Cool Justice Report at 6:24 AM
2 comments:
The court system is broken. It is important that our children understand how the court system should work, and why it does not work in its present condition. You are giving your child a first hand and incredible education. I hope she is sharing it with her peers.
Bottomline is that we have judges who do not read the law but mete out "justice" as they would like the law to read. Some do not even want to hear the evidence. It truly is shameful.
Please take time to read this piece by NHELD
http://www.nheld.com/BTN33.htm
My thoughts are with you and I thank you for your post.
How is it that MY CIVIL LIBERTIES are not eroded when I'm stuck with a higher property tax bill because you choose to push an agenda with which I might not agree? (Careful with the liberal namecalling---bottom line is I have rights too)!
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