To sign this, please send an email to Larry Dupuis, [email protected]

 

May 4, 2002

 

Emily Koczela                                      Ruth Treisman

School Board President                        Shorewood School Board                   

4259 N. Larkin                                    2701 E. Beverly

Shorewood, WI 53211                        Shorewood, WI 53211

 

Nancy Borenstein                                 Paul Zovic

Shorewood School Board                    Shorewood School Board

3536 N. Frederick                               2504 E. Newton

Shorewood, WI 53211                        Shorewood, WI 53211

 

Mark Freding                                       John Linehan

Shorewood School Board                    Shorewood School District Superintendent

4132 N. Maryland                                1701 E. Capitol Dr.

Shorewood, WI 53211                        Shorewood, WI 53211

 

Richard Munroe

Principal, Shorewood High School

1701 E. Capitol Dr.

Shorewood, WI 53211

 

To the Board and Administrators of the Shorewood School District:

 

            As residents of Shorewood, parents of Shorewood students, and/or alumni of Shorewood schools, we were dismayed to learn that the School District was presenting William Rehnquist, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, with its first “Tradition of Excellence” award on May 24, 2002.

 

To be sure, Justice Rehnquist is among Shorewood High School’s most prominent and powerful alumni.  Indeed, he has attained the highest position in the legal profession. 

 

Prominence, power and career achievement, however, are not synonymous with “excellence,” which the District’s award purports to recognize.  Joseph McCarthy was one of the most prominent and powerful Wisconsinites of the past century, but I would hope that, if McCarthy had graduated from the Shorewood Schools, the district would refrain from honoring so controversial a figure.  While not as notorious as McCarthy’s, Rehnquist’s record is profoundly troubling. 

 

            As a lawyer and jurist, Justice Rehnquist has repeatedly fought against the advancement of civil rights and individual liberties.  As a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson during deliberations on Brown v. Board of Education, Rehnquist wrote a memorandum urging the Justice to vote to uphold the “separate-but-equal” doctrine that was the foundation of nearly a century of racial apartheid in the United States.  Fortunately, Justice Jackson rejected Rehnquist’s benighted views, and all our public schools, including Shorewood’s, provide a more open and diverse educational environment as a result.

 

            Later, as a lawyer in Arizona, Rehnquist was active in a right-wing organization that attempted to deter minorities from voting and opposed a local ordinance allowing blacks to enter stores and restaurants.  As a lawyer in the Nixon administration, he argued that the government should be permitted to place a wiretap on anyone the president deemed a “threat to national security.”

 

            As a Supreme Court Justice, Rehnquist has been more subtle in his methods and rhetoric, but the effects of his rulings continue to constrict civil rights and individual liberties.  In the name of “state’s rights” and “federalism” (principles that were conveniently set aside when the Court interfered with Florida’s electoral process during the 2000 election fiasco), Justice Rehnquist and his conservative colleagues have severely undermined federal anti-discrimination law.  At the same time, they have turned the post-slavery “equal protection” clause of the Constitution on its head, using it to prevent universities and other institutions from correcting the effects of centuries of slavery and discrimination by opening doors to racial minorities.

 

Among the events scheduled in conjunction with the tradition of excellence award is a student assembly, at which Justice Rehnquist’s high school days and career achievements will be recalled and celebrated.

 

The mission of the schools is to teach children to be critical and independent thinkers and engaged citizens.  It is antithetical to that mission to present Justice Rehnquist’s career uncritically or to gloss over controversy about his positions.

 

We ask that the District take the opportunity occasioned by Justice Rehnquist’s visit to educate students about the role of the Supreme Court in our society, the principal philosophical and legal perspectives behind the debates now before the Court, and the real-world consequences these competing judicial philosophies have had.  Such a program will equip students to make an informed judgment about the merits of Justice Rehnquist’s career for themselves.  We propose a program for the high school students, during a school day some time before the award is presented.  We are open with regard to format and timing, but would like to ensure that it is as accessible to as many students as possible and that representatives of local civil rights and civil liberties groups be involved in the presentation.

 

The possibility of holding such a program has been raised on more than one prior occasion with school administrators and in a previous letter to the board.  We ask that you please respond to Larry Dupuis by phone at 332-5468 (evenings) or  by e-mail at [email protected], as soon as possible, so that arrangements can be made prior to Justice Rehnquist’s visit.

 

Sincerely,