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American Democracy and the Rule of Law: Why Every Vote Matters
Law Day 2014
Appellate Court Law Day ObservanceHistorical Figures Attend Mock Press Conference
At Appellate Court, Connecticut Bar Association
Law Day Festivities See slideshow below
HARTFORD—If a chance bystander walked into the Connecticut Appellate Court the morning of May 5th, s/he would’ve been transported back in time to press conferences with four famous people.
The Appellate Court hosted the Connecticut Bar Association (CBA) and students from around the area for a mock press conference with historical figures Gouverneur Morris, Thomas Dorr, Alice Paul and John Lewis. The figures discussed then answered questions from reporters (played by students) concerning the grander Law Day theme: Reflections on American Democracy: The Historic, and Continuing Struggle for the Right to Vote.
Each of these figures influenced their times on whether everyone had the right to vote and, as in the case of Alice Paul and John Lewis, even put their lives on the line to advocate that women and minorities receive that sacred privilege.
The mock press conference began with remarks by Appellate Court Chief Judge Alexandra D. DiPentima, who welcomed all gathered, particularly the assembled students, and thanked them for their interest in voting rights and its history in our democracy.
Attorney Matthew D. Gordon of the CBA was the moderator who introduced each of the historic figures.
Students from Manchester’s Assumption School, West Hartford’s Westfield Academy and Litchfield’s Montessori Middle School comprised the mock press corps while Attorney Kathryn Calibey played the Press Secretary.
Following the Mock Press Conference, Secretary of State Denise W. Merrill presented citations to each of the students and teachers in attendance. CBA President Kimberly A. Knox also made remarks.
Gouverneur Morris, played by a bewigged-and-tri-corner-hatted Attorney Lewis Button, represented the conservative’s view of who should have the right to vote. An aristocrat of French and English descent (born in New York on 1-31-1752), he was a signer of the Articles of Confederation and is best remembered for writing the Preamble to the Constitution. Though one of the leading figures at the Constitutional Convention, he did not favor the right to vote for all men. Instead, he believed that men with property should only be allowed to vote.
Fervently quoting Morris, Attorney Button said, "I categorically deny that I believe that our new country should be run as an aristocracy. Neither do I believe that we should go to the opposite extreme and allow universal suffrage which would permit any man to vote….Men who own property will be the faithful guardians of liberty for all. They have the greatest stake in a responsible, well-functioning government and have the judgment and experience to make wise choices about candidates for public office."
With his characterization of Gouverneur Morris, Attorney Button drew a few catcalls from the assembled "press corps."
The group calmed down somewhat, however, when Attorney Daniel Krisch stepped up to represent Thomas Dorr, (born 11-5-1805). Born in Providence, RI, he was a Harvard graduate who earned his law degree in New York City. He would go on to become Governor of Rhode Island (May, 1842-January 1843). Dorr fiercely believed that men should not have to own land to vote. He was imprisoned for this belief.
With an impassioned voice Attorney Krisch echoed Dorr’s sentiments, which explained how he landed in prison. "How did I get myself in prison? Well, during my time in the General Assembly, I was instrumental in launching a campaign to draft a new state constitution and repeal the current voting restrictions to allow all white men to vote.
"Men should not have to own land to vote," he continued. "The industrial revolution is upon us and we have to change with the times. Men are working in the factories and renting city apartments with their families. Every white male should have the right to vote, including the Irish."
Ultimately, thanks to Dorr’s advocacy, in 1843, Rhode Island adopted a new constitution which granted the ability to vote to all white males who could pay a $1 poll tax.
Alice Paul (born in NJ 1-11-1885) was raised in a Quaker family, attended Swarthmore College, and then went to live in England for a time. When she returned, she embraced the suffragist movement, eventually forming the National Woman’s Party with Lucy Burns. She would become a key figure in the movement that led to the passage of the 19th Amendment (passed in 1920 giving women the right to vote). She was a tireless advocate who was jailed on more than one occasion for organizing protests with provocative visual media.
Barbara Nidzgorski, a teacher, debate team and acting coach from Niantic, closely channeled Ms. Paul and gave a stirring representation. She talked of her often aggressive tactics to gain the vote for women.
"My allegiance to women’s right to vote began early in my life. As a young girl, I attended local women suffrage meetings with my mother, a member of the National American Women Suffrage Association. It wasn’t until I was in England studying social work, however, that I was transformed from a reserved idealist to a militant suffragist…When I returned to America in 1910, I was determined to reshape the voting rights campaign for women in this county. Instead of efforts limited to gaining rights within each state, my goal was a national amendment guaranteeing women’s equal right to vote. I must admit, my methods in obtaining this goal were controversial even among some of my fellow suffragettes."
Supreme Court Justice Richard A. Robinson, playing Civil Rights activist John Lewis, echoed his character’s passion and words, "Even as a very young man, I knew that the vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in a democratic society."
Lewis (born 2-21-1940) was the son of an Alabama sharecropper and suffered the abuses and insults of segregation while growing up in the South in the 40s, 50s and early 60s. As a student at Fisk University and Chairman of the national Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee he helped organize college students’ participation in the Civil Rights Movement and in the fight for every citizen’s right to vote—despite race or sex. He was the youngest member of the Civil Rights Big Six (along with Martin Luther King, Jr., James Farmer, A. Philip Randolph, Roy Wilkins, and Whitney Young).
Judge DiPentima offered closing remarks, and then gathered with Attorney Knox, Secretary Merrill and the students and historical figures for informal conversation afterwards.
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