ACLU-NCA Holds Education Roundtable at UDC-DCSL

On October 20, 2001, UDC-DCSL hosted an Education Roundtable organized by the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area. School violence was the topic of discussion. The event featured four breakout sessions: Prevention and Early Identification; Diversity and Respect; Intervention (Zero Tolerance); and School, Home and Community Partnerships. Between and after the breakout sessions, plenary sessions were held.

The Education Roundtable brought together school administrators, security and law enforcement personnel, local government leaders, interested social service organizations and individuals, teachers, parents, and students in a discussion and recommendation format. Against the backdrop of tragedies such as Columbine, Peduca and others, many across the nation are grappling with the problem of how to ensure a safe learning environment without infringing on the civil liberties of students and their parents. Roundtable participants discussed the rights as well as the responsibilities of all who are involved in the education system. While recommendations were made, the overarching goal of the Roundtable was to raise consciousness rather than reach consensus.

On Thursday, November 15, 2001, The Fair Budget Coalition of the District of Columbia held "Meeting Human Needs in D.C.: Providing Stability in Times of Uncertainty" at UDC-DCSL. The two-hour event featured a panel discussion with Carolyn Graham, Deputy Mayor for Children, Youth, and Families, Maria Gomez, Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care, George Jones, Bread for the City, John McClain, George Mason University, Mary Rudolph, The Greater Washington Board of Trade, and Jos Williams, AFL-CIO. For more information about the Fair Budget Coalition, contact the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless at 202-872-8958.

On Thursday, October 18, 2001, Joshua Cooper visited UDC-DCSL. Mr. Cooper is a lecturer in Peace Education at University of Hawai'i at Maui and Maui Community College. He received the Hawai'i Peacemaker of the Year Award in 1997 and currently serves as president of Amnesty International Hawai'i Chapter. Mr. Cooper focuses on nonviolence, indigenous peoples and human rights. He writes political commentary for Ka Leo O Hawai'i, East Honolulu, Fil-Am Courier and Maui Time. He is also a summer Lecturer/Facilitator at the International Training Center on Human Rights and Peace Teaching (CIFEDHOP) in Geneva, Switzerland) as well as a candidate for PhD in International Human Rights at the University of Hawaii.

Due to the small size of the group, Mr. Cooper initiated what turned out to be more of a discussion of the topic along with UDC-DCSL International Law Prof. Jim Gray and Antioch School of Law, '80, alumna Anita Parlow, herself with a diverse background in international law and journalism.

The consensus was that the U.S., after years of bashing, underfunding, and undercutting the rightful world's police force and judicial system (the United Nations and the International Court of Justice at the Hague), in addition to not supporting the creation of an International Criminal Court (ICC), had no entity to turn to that was ready to mobilize to investigate, determine if "probable cause" existed to "arrest" Osama bin Laden, and to effectuate such an arrest. An ad hoc process could have been created via the UN Security Council, but that was not attempted.

Joshua reported receiving e-mails of sympathy and shock from many of his friends and contacts from - including usually U.S.-hating indigenous peoples' advocates from around the world. It was consensus that had the U.S. refrained from retaliation, it could have used worldwide sympathy to mobilize support for the ICC and to take vigorous steps to investigate and prosecute in an overtly fair manner, setting a precedent that might have helped avert future wars. U.S. retaliation has now squandered much, if not all of this sympathy.

Despite this, the U.S. could and should still decide to fully fund the U.N. and work to ratify the treaty that would create the International Criminal Court. The September 11 attacks and our subsequent retaliation show how desperately the world needs to have such mechanisms in place.

There was also discussion of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and how it laid the groundwork for hatred. Examples included U.S. support for Israel vis à vis the Palestinians, the U.S. CIA assisted overthrow of the democratically elected Iranian government in 1953 and the subsequent training of the Shah's secret police (Savak) and how it resulted in the death of thousands of Iranians; the perpetuation of the Iraqi/Iranian war; the use of NATO rather than the U.N. to expel Sadaam from Kuwait; and the 1984 U.S. CIA car bombing outside a mosque in Beirut (in retaliation for the Marine Corps barracks bombing) that killed 80 and wounded 200, not to mention the continued embargo of Iraq - whether one thinks it is appropriate or not - that is taking a heavy civilian toll.

It was generally felt that U.S. involvement and policy in the Middle East was first fueled by a mixture of Cold War politics and oil addiction, with oil addiction becoming predominant since the fall of the Soviet Empire.

It was also observed that the predictable economic slowdown caused by the terrorist attack could also have been predicted to cause a commensurate drop in oil prices, lowered oil revenues in moderate Arab states like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc., and thereby the increased destabilization of those regimes - perhaps the ultimate aims of any (living or dead) fundamentalist Muslims behind the attacks.

The group then spent a good bit of time plotting programming at UDC. One possibility is to support the new student International Law Society with an "Alumni Council" that might assist with bringing alumni and other international law and human rights professionals in to the School of Law each month. We also discussed organizing an intensive week-long Human Rights Seminar in May 2002 with evening speeches by known experts and culminating in a weekend conference and Monday Lobby Day. After that, we could work to build a summer long evening course for both undergraduate and law school credit. Finally, in Summer 2003, we would hope to have a summer long integrated internship/evening course patterned after and integrated with our existing domestic civil rights program, which would place students in organizations throughout the District and bring them to campus in the evenings for classes and speeches.

In addition, one of our former students, originally from China, had been urged by a family member who is also a Chinese diplomat, to set up a US/China Human Rights conference that would focus on sharing strategies for just treatment of indigenous people. There was some talk that UDC might be an excellent location for such a conference.

--Joe Libertelli

On Monday, December 3, 2001, students from Banneker Senior High School, DeMatha Senior High School, and the Maya Angelou Public Charter School appeared before Congress as part of a National Policy Forum on Youth Court. Youth Court is a peer review process in which teens are able to hear cases involving juvenile offenders, counsel the offenders on ways to improve themselves, and "sentence" them to perform community service. First year students at UDC-DCSL - in conjunction with the staff of the Time Dollar Institute - assist the students in preparing to carry out the functions of the Court.

UDC-DCSL students were joined by youth from a similar program in Colonie, New York. They re-enacted recent cases that they have heard concerning the unlawful possession of a weapon. Following their presentation, Dr. Jeffrey A. Butts from the Justice Policy Center of the Urban Institute reported his preliminary findings from a study of the efficacy of Youth Court programs nation-wide as tools to divert young people from the juvenile justice system.

Representatives from the American Youth Policy Forum, the American Bar Association, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Chicago, and the American Probation and Parole Association were in attendance. The primary sources of support for the Youth Court concept are the Justice Department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Transportation Department's National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration. UDC-DCSL Prof. Edgar S. Cahn instituted the Youth Court program for the District of Columbia in 1996.

Additional information about Youth Court programs is available at www.youthcourt.net. The Office of Justice Programs is accessible at www.ojp.usdoj.gov. To learn more about Prof. Cahn and the Time Dollar Institute, see www.timedollar.org.

-- Jay Stewart

"Lawyering in Context: Exploring the Intersections of Law and Community"

Every year, law students, professors, and public interest practitioners from the East Coast and throughout the country gather for a weekend in the idyllic setting of New Hampshire. We relax, we share ideas, and we recommit to work in the public interest. (We also have the opportunity to enjoy a wintry weekend in New Hampshire: long hikes, cross-country skiing, and chatting by the fireplace.) The Cover Retreat is a wonderful opportunity for informal networking through which people have found new friends and even future jobs. The weekend traditionally includes a keynote address, panel discussions, and time for informal conversations.

Yale Law School is excited to organize this year's Retreat with the theme, "Lawyering in Context: Exploring the Intersections of Law and Community." Please join us in New Hampshire! Registration packets will be available in early December. Although there is an attendance fee for the Retreat, scholarships are available to students on a case-by-case basis. For more information about student registration and practitioner participation, please contact Toni Moore at toni.moore@yale.edu or Raj Nayak at rajesh.nayak@yale.edu.