Patent Law

Los Angeles Judges and Attorneys!! Engage Local High School Students in Conversation about the Tensions Between Liberty and Security to Commemorate 9/11

By Les Weinstein, Michael Young, John Leo Wagner, Eric van Ginkel, and Victoria Pynchon

Dialogues on Freedom - Volunteers needed! 

Commenorate 9/11 by engaging high students in a discussion about the tensions between liberty and security in the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center.  These kids -- 15 through 18 -- were 8 to 11 years old a the time of the attacks.  It has defined the world they live in.  Help them see it from a different viewpoint. 

I have participated in this program for several years now and it has become one of the highlights of my year.  You can render this important public service with a half-day of training and a half-day in our local public schools.  Below, the description of the program by LACBA.

In response to the September 11 terrorist attacks, Justice Anthony Kennedy created a program where participating lawyers and judges lead discussions in public high schools, discussing the concepts of freedom, law and justice. The dialogues are not lectures. They are focused talks which challenge students to think and talk about their own perspectives and experiences regarding freedom and the state of our nation’s security.

Since its inception in 2002, this annual program, sponsored by the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the Los Angeles Superior Court in cooperation with the Los Angeles Unified School District, has become a day of remembrance and tribute, and an opportunity for lawyers and judges to impact high school students in our community.

Today’s students need input and guidance from legal professionals. Not only are these future decision-makers in need of guided discussions regarding the importance of the events since 2001, but they also need first-hand exposure to the legal profession. The Diversity Pipeline Summit held by LACBA in June 2007, revealed the enormous amount of young people interested in law and legal careers. Therefore, now, more than ever, Dialogues on Freedom is one of the best ways for students to be exposed to future careers in the law.

Please join LACBA's Dialogues on Freedom to help lead a discussion at a Los Angeles-area high school on September 11, 2008. Volunteer teams of lawyers and judges will conduct 50-minute sessions on September 11 at various Los Angeles County High Schools. Last year, teams received assignments at the following schools: Belmont, Chatsworth, Dorsey, Eagle Rock, Fremont, Hollywood, Jefferson, Lincoln, Manual Arts, Monroe, North Hollywood, Roosevelt, University, Venice and Wilson High Schools.

Trainings for judges and lawyers who wish to participate in this year’s dialogues will take place on Thursday, September 4, 5:30-6:30 p.m. at Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 N. Hill St., Room 222, in downtown Los Angeles or alternatively on Saturday, September 6, 10:00-11:00 a.m. at Venice High School, 13000 Venice Blvd.

If you are interested in participating as a volunteer in the Dialogues on Freedom program, please sign-up online or e-mail the following information—your name, firm/office name, firm/office address, office phone, e-mail address, and the number of 50-minute class sessions for which you can stay at a school (AM or PM)—to freedom@lacba.org as soon s possible.

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it. ~Thomas Paine

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759  

I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. ~James Madison, speech, Virginia Convention, 1788

Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it. ~George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, "Maxims: Liberty and Equality," 1905

Full post as published by IP ADR Blog on August 26, 2008 (boomark / email).