Connecticut
Post posts about what is happening in the State of Connecticut.
Reflections in the Ceremonial Courtroom in the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 03/05/2008 - 10:15Yesterday I had the privilege of spending several hours in the Ceremonial Courtroom in the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse in New York City. It is an impressive room where many important cases are heard, yet the cases often over shadow the room and room deserves its own place in the spotlight.
The courthouse, like most courthouses, do not allow you to bring camera inside, so it is difficult to find pictures of the courtroom, so I will try to conjure an image with my words.
As you enter the courtroom, you are greeted by busts of Learned Hand and Henry Friendly. Judge Hand served as an active judge in the Second Circuit from 1924 until 1951, including three years as chief judge. He wrote important decisions about Freedom of Speech. Judge Friendly served as an active judge in the Second Circuit from 1959 until 1974, also including a three-year stint as chief judge.
The courtroom is cavernous. The ceiling is twenty to thirty feet high. Dark wood, leather and ornate marble add to the ambiance, as does rich fabrics used for the curtains and the carpets.
It has the feeling of a temple to justice and lawyers and observers spoke in hushed voices before the judges arrived. I looked around the room to see if there were any electrical outlets where I could plug in my laptop and found none. I didn’t even check to see if there was WiFi.
As I sat in the courtroom for the first time and felt a sense of awe, I wondered if lawyers who have argued in the court many times have that same sense of awe, and at least one affirmed that afterwards, also speaking of the nearly religious feeling the courtroom imparts.
So, I sit on the long wooden benches that resemble pews and wait for the judges to enter. While the powdered white wigs of yesteryear are gone, the sense of dignity and privilege remains. The court considers many important issues, yet one of the important issues, perhaps left to journalists, bloggers and educators is how to make the courts accessible which maintaining their dignity and decorum. I hope this blog post will have done its little part.
The Doninger Case and Transit Disruptions
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 03/05/2008 - 00:07What a day!
10:40 PM. I am finally home after a very long day. Today, I went in to hear oral arguments about the Avery Doninger case at the Second Circuit. My father-in-law had spoken with me beforehand about what a beautiful courtroom it is. I agree, and a description of the courtroom deserves a blog post of its own.
There were three judges hearing the arguments on several different cases. The judges probably deserve their own blog post as well, as do the other cases. However, I was there to observe the Doninger case. The judges spent a lot of time hearing the other cases, often going over the allotted time for each case, and so the Doninger case didn’t start until about 3:45. Each side was to receive ten minutes for their oral arguments, and before Jon Schoenhorn, who was representing the Doningers got a chance to launch into his prepared remarks, the judges started peppering him with questions about Hazelwood.
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (doc. #: 86-836) was a case that addressed the issue, “To what extent, consistent with the First Amendment, may educators exercise editorial control over the contents of a high school newspaper produced as part of the school’s journalism curriculum?” It seemed a strange place to start, especially if there were only going to be twenty minutes for arguments. However, the questions went on and on from there. Nearly two hours later, the court adjourned.
The court does not allow you to bring cellphones into the courtroom, especially phones like mine that can be used to take pictures, so I left my cellphone with the U.S. Marshals. When I picked up my cellphone, I received several text messages from Kim about the building collapse that disrupted MetroNorth trains for several hours.
Even though the trains were supposed to be running again by the time the court adjourned, I figured that the train schedules, and the backlog of commuters would make the train trip back particularly complicated, so I went to dinner with the Doningers and Attorney Schoenhorn. Even after dinner, the trains were still not fully back on schedule and I rode a crowded train combining the 8:04 and the 8:07 train.
So now, I am home. I’ve taken a little time to write initial comments. I will head off to bed, and then write up more details about the court, the judges, the other cases, and the two hours of oral arguments of the Doninger case tomorrow morning when I’m not so tired.
While it was a long day, it was also a wonderful day. I am glad I got a chance to go see the case continue to unfold, and I urge everyone to pay closer attention to the judicial processes in our country.
Lots of Random Stuff
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Mon, 03/03/2008 - 15:03Slowly, I’m digging out of all the emails and other content that has piled up. I’m down to less than 400 unread emails in my inbox, not counting the 3000 or so that I’ve moved to folders and will probably never get around to reading. I’ve also flagged around 500 for following up. Some are email discussions that need to be had. Others are ideas worth investigating. Some are simply interesting things that I want to highlight.
So, with that, I’m going to spend a little time highlighting some of them that are out there to at least clean up my list a little.
Tom Atlee sent out an interesting email wondering what public engagement looks like to Barack Obama. I think this is a great question. With Sen. Edwards out of the race, I’m now supporting Barack Obama, in part because of the way he is encouraging public engagement. However, public engagement is about much more than people chanting “Yes we can”, or “We are all individuals”.
So, would an Obama election be a mandate for him pushing through his agenda? Would it bring about a more open government where people can see more clearly what is going on and take a more active role? Will it support a more deliberative democracy, where people can come together and develop wiser solutions to the problems our country and our world changes? Will it bring about systemic changes that will make things like deliberative democracy easier and more likely?
Natasha Chart has a blog post up on BlogsUnited entitled, Internet Marketing: They Copy Us, If They Know What's Best. I’ve scanned it, and it looks like a good starting point, especially for progressive bloggers that want to get their message out more widely.
Avery Doninger invited me to the Purple for Peace - Genocide Awareness Day. Wear purple on March 14th, to get people to think about genocide in places like Darfur.
Various people have written to me about EENR blog. Since there was a discussion about it up on MyDD, it seems like it is public now.
Sue Henshaw wrote about the CT For Lieberman statewide party meeting on March 6th at 6:30 PM at 243 Zion St.,Hartford, CT 06106.
There are plenty of other things, but the Metanomics forum in Second Life is about to start, so, I should post this as is.
Recently discovered Connecticut Activist Websites
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Tue, 02/12/2008 - 22:42www.citizenselections.org. Okay, this isn’t all that recent a discovery. I just haven’t written much about it yet. It is tied to Common Cause, where Kim is now working.
http://ct.teachagainstgenocide.org/. Today, I got an email from Tim Salem. Tim is the teacher at Danbury High School that helped a group of students produce The Promise, a video about Genocide in the Sudan.
Both of these sites provide ways for people to get involved here in Connecticut.
Clean Laundry and Clean Elections
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 02/06/2008 - 18:12From Project Laundry List, the eco chic activist online group, I have learned about Right to Dry legislation.
Many people in the United States are not allowed to hang out their clothes to dry in the sun. Community covenants, landlord prohibitions, and zoning laws are the three primary means of stopping people from using clotheslines. State and federal legislators are encouraged to introduce "Right to Dry" legislation to stem this growing problem.
The Hartford Courant had an editorial a few days ago supporting right to dry legislation. They note that such legislation would seem to fit nicely with Gov. Rell's OneThing campaign.
The discussion about right to dry promoted me to put up my Wordless Wednesday - Eco Chic picture.
From my wife, came an invitation to join the CT Common Cause Facebook Group. I’ve sent out a bunch of invitations. She also invited me to join the Common Cause group on Change.org. Kim has started as a senior organizer at Common Cause Connecticut. Kim’s key focus is to get people to participate in publicly funded state legislative elections under the new campaign finance laws. Details can be found at CT Citizen’s Elections Program.
Also related to elections is a series of emails and a blog post I put up on MyLeftNutmeg about Voting Problems in Hamden.
