In Support Of Free Speech
Oct. 14
By CAROLE GOLDBERG
Hartford Courant
October 11, 2007
A Free Speech Festival will be held Sunday to support high school senior Avery Doninger of Burlington, who is suing the principal of Lewis S. Mills High School and the school superintendent for removing her from the ballot for Class of 2008 secretary.
That happened because the superintendent canceled a Student Council "battle of the bands" after Avery and other students sent e-mails to the community asking for support for the Jamfest. Avery then used a vulgarity on her personal blog to refer to the administrators, and she was subsequently banned from running for school office.
The case has become a national civil rights cause célèbre over whether schools can take punitive action if they disapprove of what students write on their personal blogs, and the Doningers are appealing a previous ruling in favor of the school administration.
The festival will take place at the Bistro East Ballroom at the Litchfield Inn beginning at 1 p.m. There will be refreshments and live music by [five] high school bands as well as readings by 11 Connecticut writers and poets starting at 2 p.m.
They are Wally Lamb (pictured in print edition), Jon Andersen, Louis Colavecchio, Rand Richards Cooper, Oscar De Los Santos, Franz Douskey, Amy Ma, Christine Palm, Margot Schilpp, Ravi Shankar and Ron Winter. The Hickory Stick Bookshop of Washington Depot will be the book vendor.
A donation of $25 for adults and $10 or more for students is suggested. Checks can be made to Atty. Jon L. Schoenhorn IOLTA Account, with Avery Doninger Appeal on the reference line, and can be sent to Jon L. Schoenhorn &Associates LLC, 108 Oak St., Hartford, CT 06106-1514.
For information, call 860-690-0211, or e-mail tntcomm82@cs.com
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