Spring 2021 Advocate
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SPRING EDITION 2021 VOL. 30, NO. 3 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT BY: STEVEN F. GRIFFITH, JR. I sit here, just a day after our The New Orleans Chapter’s Justice Camp is a top notch April Board meeting, and I program that we offer to young people in New Orleans find myself throwing out my each summer, with a focus on the role of the judiciary, planned remarks regarding our and all its participants (attorneys, judges, jurors, etc.). upcoming Chapter program- The program has attained national recognition, and just ming (you should still attend last week, I was communicating with a Magistrate Judge these fabulous programs, and I in another court as that Court hopes to model its program will mention them later, but my after ours. In our program, we have speakers from our mind is now on other things). organization (i.e., people like you . .) that teach the kids the fundamentals of the legal system, including ca- Several months ago, our Board began a practice of in- reers within that system, and to develop basic advocacy viting some of our partners to attend and address our skills in a fun, interesting, and interactive format. So, monthly Board meetings about their ongoing activities, back to yesterday’s meeting. priorities, challenges for the year, and ways in which our Chapter could assist their efforts. We have heard from In yesterday’s meeting, Courtney talked about her ex- West Allen, the President of the National FBA organiza- perience at Justice Camp, how much she enjoyed it, and tion; Jim Hammerschmidt, the President of the FBA Bar then she explained how excited she was to be going to Foundation; and Camille Bryant, President of the Louis college next year. Specifically, she cited Justice Camp A. Martinet Society. But, this month, we heard from as one of the factors influencing her decision to study Cody Bourque, the International Baccalaureate Coordi- Criminal Justice and Political Science. Of course, the nator at the International High School of New Orleans Chapter cannot take full credit for her decision to pur- (“IHSNOLA”). sue her education in this way, but the fact that we may have influenced her decision-making at all, even in the The IHSNOLA is a charter school located in downtown slightest, makes the work we do as a Chapter all the more New Orleans, with a program encouraging “students to rewarding. think broadly, beyond the boundaries of their communi- ties, and to develop the intellectual, personal, emotional We’ll host our next Justice Camp this summer, and be- and social skills needed to live, learn and work in a global tween now and then, we’ll have a host of additional pro- economy.” Mr. Bourque explained the current offerings grams that you can attend for your own professional de- at the school, particularly given some of the recent chal- velopment. We take pride in the programming we offer, lenges with COVID-19. But, then, we were privileged to so do not hesitate to let us know if you have any ideas hear directly from a student that had participated in our Justice Camp. cont’d on page 2 EDITORIAL BOARD: LARRY CENTOLA, COLIN CAMBRE, MICHAEL FINKELSTEIN, RACHEL NAQUIN MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT (CONT'D) or“There suggestions are moments we should our d consider for future sessions. Chapter, and look forward to seeing you at an upcoming And, in the meantime, thank you for your support of the event. 2021 USDC-EDLA WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION: "U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Her Lasting Legacy" ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA On March 23, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana sponsored a Women’s History Month Celebration entitled, “U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Her Lasting Legacy.” Dr. Sally Kenney, Ex- ecutive Director of Newcomb Institute, Newcomb College Endowed Chair Professor, and leading expert on women in the judiciary, served as keynote speaker. Dr. Kenney spoke about Justice Ginsburg’s career as a gender equity advocate as well as her tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court bench, and highlighted the justice’s approach to affecting change, an approach imbued with civility and long-range focus. The event was moderated by the Honorable Nannette Jolivette Brown, Chief U.S. District Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, and co- sponsored by the following organizations: Association for Women Attorneys, Greater New Orleans Louis A. Martinet Legal Society, New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, New Orleans Bar Association, Louisiana State Bar Association, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, and the U.S. Probation Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana. To view a video of the event, please select this link. The New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association recognizes the contributions of members of the legal community every year at our Annual Meeting. We are currently accepting nominations for the President’s Award, the Jack Martzell Professionalism Award, and the Camille Gravel Pro-Bono/Public Service Award. Click the link below to get information on how to nominate and prior recipients. Submit nominations by 4:00 p.m. on June 11, 2021 to [email protected]. 2021 USDC-EDLA BILL OF RIGHTS ESSAY AND POSTER CONTESTS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana recently hosted essay and poster contests to celebrate the Bill of Rights. High school students from across the Eastern District of Louisiana participated in the contests. U.S. District Judges, Barry Ashe and Wendy Vitter, U.S. Magistrate Judges, Janis van Meerveld, Dana Douglas, and Donna Currault, and Federal Bar Association members, Erin Arnold, Benjamin de Seingalt, Michael Dodson, Jessica Engler, and Gregory Grimsal, volunteered to judge the essay and poster entries. The winning essays and posters were announced at a Zoom event hosted by Chief U.S. District Judge, Nannette Jolivette Brown, and the event was attended by judges, attorney-facilitators, and participating students. ESSAY CONTEST WINNERS: 1st Place: Meghan Drane, Mandeville High School, 12th grade, Printed on the next page. 2nd Place: Natalie Bou, Archbishop Chapelle High School, 12th grade, Essay 3rd Place: Mya Guy, St. James High School, 10th grade, Essay Hon. Mention: Abram Pounds, Ben’s Ford Christian School, 10th grade, Essay Hon. Mention: Jake Slaton, St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School, 11th grade, Essay POSTER CONTEST WINNERS: 1st Place: Natalie Bou, 3rd Place: Gracie Babin, Archbishop Chapelle High School, Hammond High Magnet School, 12th grade 9th grade 2nd Place: Martha Rigney, Christ Episcopal School, 11th grade Honorable Mention: Honorable Mention: Amber Fairley, Abigail Gillis, Varnado High School, Mandeville High 10th grade School, 12th grade 3 1ST PLACE ESSAY CONTEST WINNER MEGHAN DRANE, MANDEVILLE HIGH SCHOOL, 12TH GRADE The right to marital privacy. The right to cyber privacy. The right to make your own health care decisions. Each of these personal liberties define our everyday life and have evolved alongside our great country. How can we be sure that these freedoms continue to be protected, seeing as they are not specifically enumerated in the Bill of Rights? How can we feel comfortable carrying on our family name to future generations that will be faced with unfathomable problems? The answer to both of these questions lies in a frequently forgotten amendment and the one that means the most to me- the Ninth Amendment. In official terms, the Ninth Amendment ensures that explicitly stated coverage in the first amendments “shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people” (“Ninth Amendment”) and has since been clarified to ensure that citizens’ rights are not limited to the narrow constraints of ten clauses written hundreds of years ago. It has been used as support in numerous cases, including the landmark case Griswold vs. Connecticut. This case set the precedent that our rights as citizens can be maintained “without having to ground it in a specific constitutional amendment” (McBride). In layman’s terms, this means that Constitutional validation for policies does not have to be tied to a numbered amendment. If any given society in any given period of United States History decides that some- thing demands government protection, we can look to the Ninth Amendment to secure these protections. This is an invaluable contribution to our Constitution. Our founding fathers could not possibly have been granted the foresight to imagine a world in which people across the globe could be reached with the click of a button or where fatal illnesses have promising, yet experimental, treatments. Luckily, they did have the foresight to realize that America was never destined to be a static nation. It was sure to innovate and evolve. In this way, the Ninth Amendment is like the Elastic Clause of the Bill of Rights. Similar to how the framers hoped to give Congress the power to “pass all laws necessary and proper for carrying out the enumerated list of powers” (“Elastic Clause”), the Ninth Amendment ensures that citizens are granted rights that are necessary and proper for the highest enjoyment of life and liberty. Because of its broad and elastic nature, I know I will never question whether or not I am protected by the Constitu- tion- whether or not something falls into one of the other amendments. The Ninth Amendment covers citizens on all angles. While blatant protections of “religion, expression, assembly, [speech], and the right to petition” (“First Amendment”) and the right to bear arms allows me to feel secure in our country on a day to day basis, I recognize that other problems may arise where my rights may be called into question.