i knew andy at cool justice would have a posting

and his is the one i want to link to

Jim Irwin, 1936-2009, Friend Of Young Writers

Irwin founded the Young Writers Trust in 1998. Douskey, an original board member of The Trust, has also served as President of IMPAC University in Punta Gorda, FL.

Today, the Connecticut Young Writers competition continues to affirm the work of young poets and writers while celebrating their accomplishments. The Young Writers Trust has given more than $182,000 to Connecticut’s best young writers since 1998.

IMPAC Chairman Jim Irwin and retired Connecticut State University System Chancellor William Cibes expanded the Young Writers Program from Litchfield County to cover the entire state in 2000.

IMPAC, a leading global productivity firm, sponsors the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, which, at 100,000 euros, is the largest in the world for a single work of fiction.

Jim Irwin was a great friend to young writers all over the world. He was a fierce and relentless advocate for free expression.............
pic:
-- Photos Courtesy of Connecticut Young Writers Trust
Jim Irwin, right, at the Litchfield Inn several years ago with friend and colleague Franz Douskey, the poet and writer.

andy thibault at cool justice

has more on

the VERY falsely arrested PROFESSOR RAVI SHANKAR

link to ny post story from andy
and
info on the suit filed by atty bruce baron on behalf of professor shankar

another must read from andy thibault at

the cool justice report

it's scary and sad and embarrassing. even though my skin isn't brown, i'm STILL afraid if things like this CONTINUE TO HAPPEN IN MY COUNTRY

Blockhead Judge To Profiling Victim: `I'm Not Listening ...'

Culminating Indignity
For Indian-American Falsely Incarcerated

"She Had No Interest
In The False Arrest."
-- Poet & Professor Ravi Shankar,
Central Connecticut State University

Official Proceedings
Criminal Court Of The State Of New York
Docket No.: 2009NY05478
Arraignment
Presiding, Judge Ruth Pickholz

By ANDY THIBAULT
The Cool Justice Report
www.cooljustice.blogspot.com
Sept. 9, 2009

EDITOR'S NOTE: This column is available for reprint courtesy of The Cool Justice Report, http://cooljustice.blogspot.com

Poet Ravi Shankar was profiled, wrongly arrested and locked up for 36 hours in New York City. Even after cops called Shankar a "sand nigger" and hummed "Here Comes The Bride" as he walked in a manacled procession at 100 Centre St., the Central Connecticut State University professor had yet to endure his greatest indignity.
During his incarceration on a weekend in July, Shankar slept upright on a bench in perhaps several 20-and 30-minute interludes. There were fights among the many bodies on the floor in the holding tank. Shankar notice that virtually all of those held were minorities, some of them accused of petty crimes such as loitering, walking through a park at the wrong time [trespassing] or operating without a peddler's license.



Everyone shared the stench of the open-air toilet. Then, it got worse.

Shankar met Judge Ruth Pickholz.

Shankar's public defender, Victor Castelli, had reached an understanding with the prosecutor, Matthew Montana. There was a big mistake. Charges would be dropped.

"The warrant is not him, judge," Castelli said. "It says it's a 5' 10" white male [weighing 140 pounds] on the description that the police showed him …"...........

our friend andy thibault at the cool justice report

has an update on the douchebag case!
he has reported on this case extensively. man, a lot of work went into this. all links to all his stories are on his blog. do read him, it's well worth it. andy is my kind o' person. in a fight i sure as shite would want him on MY side! stop on over and say hola!

BULLETIN: Landmark Free Speech Case Back @ U.S. Second Circuit Court Of Appeals

Parental Rights,
Home Invasion By Douche Bag School Bosses
On The Docket Along With Seizure Of Free Speech T-Shirts

Judges Will Have To Review Punishment
For Seeking Redress Of Grievances

Travesty Kravitz's Efforts
To Contain Case, Avoid Accountability
Face Major Reversal

By ANDY THIBAULT
The Cool Justice Report
www.cooljustice.blogspot.com
July 30, 2009

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is available for reprint courtesy of The Cool Justice Report, http://cooljustice.blogspot.com

DATELINE -
Douchebagville,
aka the intersection of
Burlington, CT
And New Haven U.S. District Courtroom Four
When Mark Kravitz Is On The Bench

Free Speech Freedom Fighter Avery Doninger will get a hearing to appeal her punishment for rallying citizens to support students in their quest to hold a concert that was cancelled by school officials in Regional District 10.

The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York granted Doninger's request for a wide-ranging appeal on July 23. No schedule has been set for the appeal............

please do stop by

andy thibault's blog; the cool justice report for an update on the billy smolinski case. it really IS just getting weirder and weirder. i think of billy's family and my heart goes out to them. NO closure. well, not just that but bungling and ineptness everywhere. let's hope they get answers SOON

More Bizarre Twists & Leads In Smolinski Case

Why Do-Nothing Cops
Must Be Held Accountable
And Ordered To Do Their Jobs,
Especially When They Drop The Ball
On Missing Persons Reports

Some Details Related
To The Trail
Of Dead Bodies

A TIME FOR GOOD COPS TO STAND UP

This Is The Backdrop For CT Legislative Hearing Tuesday

Legislative Hearing Tuesday On Bill Resulting From Smolinski Case.......

Support Courageous State Rep. Vickie Nardello,
Who Is Standing Up For Missing Persons
And Their Loved Ones Everywhere

By ANDY THIBAULT
The Cool Justice Report
www.cooljustice.blogspot.com
March 2, 2009

EDITOR'S NOTE: This column is available for reprint courtesy of The Cool Justice Report, http://cooljustice.blogspot.com

Billy Smolinski -- the missing man forsaken by management of the Waterbury, CT Police Department and presumed murdered - could have a legacy that will help save the lives of other missing persons.

The level of police ineptitude and callousness in the Smolinski case was so startling that politicians are actually doing something about it........
justice 4 billy
(please click the more bizarre link above for the full story at andy's blog)

i guess my head was in the sand once again

i had not heard one PEEP about this until i stopped by the cool justice report. andy had a great posting on it and a ton of links (and how cool is it andy was mentioned in the ny times

here's the start of andy's posting. click the link to read the WHOLE thing. i do think everyone is missing the greatest point here. NO ONE and i mean NO ONE says ANYTHING bad about uconn SACRED basketball (p.s. i don't think it's sacred. ALMOST EVERYONE else in this state sure does. it's not like they're the SOX or anything)

CALHOUN NUMBERS SHOCKER

Fuzzy Math 101
By ANDY THIBAULT
The Cool Justice Report
www.cooljustice.blogspot.com
Feb. 23, 2009

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is available for reprint courtesy of The Cool Justice Report, http://cooljustice.blogspot.com

First, thanks to Cool Justice readers for all the great tips.

Maybe UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun wasn't thinking straight when he tried to shout down reporter Ken Krayeske and talk about facts at the same time.

Practice what you scream, coach.

It certainly looks like men's basketball brought in only $7.33 million instead of the $12 million Calhoun claimed........

andy thibault

at the cool justice report has done numerous postings on avery doninger. more than anyone else (probably more than EVERYONE else put together).

the rulings in that case were insane. they were unjust. they were WRONG

this too is VERY wrong (and i'll tell you this much, if one of those boys was MY son, i'd be out for someone's heart on a stick - and i'm NOT a violent woman. NO ONE, NO ONE in a school, makes a child STRIP for ANY reason, unless it's life and death. oh and one more thing. i don't even like kids that much. i just think kids have rights and protections. oh, if they're assholes and troublemakers sure, punish them BUT DON'T STRIP SEARCH THEM UNLESS YOU ARE ALMOST 100% CERTAIN THEY HAVE A WEAPON ON THEM)

Police: school strip searches not criminal
Compiled from news service reports

Shelton police and state prosecutors say no crime was committed when teachers at the Pine Academy school strip-searched four students. A lawyer for the teens, Robert Berke, says he won’t challenge the findings, but plans to sue, alleging an unreasonable search. Berke says Principal Patricia Nicolari ordered the searches Dec. 2 after a teacher reported $70 missing. He says two male teachers searched the students, making them strip down to their underwear, but the cash wasn’t found. The principal and two teachers were put on administrative leave afterward. It’s unclear if they’re back on the job.

the cool justice report

hooks us up with some avery doninger video from fox & friends (yeah, i know, of ALL the networks, but it's a start)

andy also has a bunch of other avery links too. check it out, he's done some exhaustive reporting on this

some cops in avon

racist or not? i know what i personally know (having worked in avon for more than 1/2 of my life). i also know if ANYONE feels guilty about bringing these emails to light, THEY SHOULD NOT

andy thibault at the cool justice report links us up to some articles

and here's colin mcenroe's story (he is the one that filed the initial complaint i believe)

even though we've never actually met

i like to think of andy thibault as a friend of mine.
i read his blog the cool justic report daily (well i was 'off' a few weeks when my old laptop was dying)


here's a GREAT article on him in the waterbury republican
(i've told andy this and i will tell YOU this as well. i'd NEVER want to cross him. he's a pitbull. and unlike the story's author, i don't think that is an insult). i've seen him get (figuratively) in the face of some folk that i too would want to biotch-slap and i've seen him (figuratively) take in people under his wing - that needed taking in.

here's to you andy!

and hey, i happen to LIKE pit bulls!

He'll get in your face Litchfield blogger always eager for a cause

BY GEORGE KRIMSKY REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
Andy Thibault spends a lot of time in shorts and sandals watching rabbits nibble in his Litchfield backyard. When he feels up to it, he climbs the steep stairs of his Victorian home on a quiet, tree shaded street, turns on the computer and takes on the world.Muckraking may seem misplaced in such a bucolic setting, but it works just fine for a 55-year-old man trying to recover from stage 3 colon cancer while waging a feisty campaign that could have national significance in the free-speech arena.Through his news blog, "The Cool Justice Report," Thibault is the prime mover in an effort to challenge the punishment of Avery Doninger, a Lewis S. Mills High School student from Burlington, for critical remarks she made last year on her blog about school administrators.............

justice?

well it would seem like it's a first step. please stop by the cool justice report

and read

BREAKING NEWS: Niehoff Suspended Without Pay For 2 Days
But, Will She GetTo Speak At Graduation?
By ANDY THIBAULT
The Cool Justice Report
www.cooljustice.blogspot.com
June 13, 2008EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is available for reprint courtesy of The Cool Justice Report, http://cooljustice.blogspot.com

BURLINGTON – Embattled Principal Karissa Niehoff – a key figure in The Famous Douche Bag Case – was suspended for two days without pay after she violated the privacy rights of free speech freedom fighter Avery Doninger.
Responding to a May 30 article in The New York Post, Niehoff wrote to Midwestern educator Mike Morris about Doninger. Niehoff’s letter is loaded with unsubstantiated and undocumented allegations about Doninger, who will graduate from Lewis Mills High School next week................

and a special shout out to alan beitman

avery doninger updates

from the cool justice report

i've said it before and i'll say it again

don't mess with andy thibault!

the 'douchebag(s)' (i can say that because i don't go to school in douchebag land, i'm older than a teenager AND i'm not running for any school office in douchebag land) appear to be getting their hands slapped (at least their representation is)

from the cool justice report


Commission Orders Douche Bag Lawyer To Produce Billing Records

Chinni, Schwartz Broke FOI Law By Censoring & Withholding Public Documents School Bosses Escape Fines For Hiding Write-In Ballots In Stolen Election U.S. Second Circuit Ruling Way Overdue As School Term Concludes
By ANDY THIBAULT The Cool Justice Report http://www.cooljustice.blogspot.com/
May 22, 2008 EDITOR'S NOTE: This story is available for reprint courtesy of The Cool Justice Report, http://cooljustice.blogspot.com/


Will there be justice for free speech freedom fighter Avery Doninger and all the students who elected her Secretary of the Class of 2008 at Lewis Mills High School in Burlington, CT? How about the taxpayers footing the bill for an incompetent school board lawyer who runs up more and more fees every time she makes a mistake?Perhaps there will be a little justice. Certainly the truth will be told. And, in the course of learning about a welfare system for board of education lawyers in Connecticut, citizens might be moved to do something.The Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission issued a finding this week ordering attorney Christine Chinni to produce uncensored billing records for her "work" of behalf of now-retired School Superintendent Paula Schwartz and Lewis Mills Principal Karissa Niehoff. Those records were requested Aug. 1, 2007 and should have been produced then...........

(you go andy!!!)

a link to a post

from one of my favorite blogs. the cool justice report by andy thibault (even though this article is not by andy). andy is quite the renaissance man. i've never met him, but he and i both live in connecticut. i'm in the process of reading one of his books right now, law and justice in every day life. it's fascinating. i've told him i love reading the book, but the stories are scaring the HELL out of me (they deal for the most part with connecticut cases).

andy has taken up causes (i don't know if that's the correct terminology. i don't know if HE would describe it that way) from billy smolinski to avery doninger AND LOTS in between.

if i was ever in a jam, i hope i'd have someone like andy at my back


Column: Top Connecticut Lawyer Delineates Ethics Rules On Telling The Truth

Liar, Liar Pants on Fire: The Rules For Lawyers Have Changed" The lawyer is mandated to remedy the falsity, even if it means informing the court that the client is lying ... Thus it is not only truth by others, but as importantly, truth from attorneys that is mandated."By RICHARD MEEHAN The Cool Justice Report http://www.cooljustice.blogspot.com/
Feb. 15, 2008
EDITOR'S NOTE: This column is available for reprint courtesy of The Cool Justice Report, http://cooljustice.blogspot.com/
The Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) are the Bible governing lawyer ethics. Despite the cynicism of some wags, we do try to police ourselves as a profession and adhere to a code that places respect for the process above all other considerations.Lawyers have always had an obligation to be truthful with the court. Overzealous representation should not lead to an attorney misrepresenting the facts or misleading a court on issues of legal authorities. Traditionally, the RPC required that an attorney not participate actively in presenting false testimony before a tribunal. That rule has been amended to demand even more of lawyers.Rule 1.6 of the RPC requires lawyers to maintain client confidences. The sanctity of the attorney client privilege is no less than the sanctity of the seal of the confessional between priests and penitents.But what is the lawyer's responsibility when he learns that a client has given false testimony? Does the privilege mandate attorney silence and allow a subversion of the truth finding purpose of the judicial process? No.................. (read the rest at the link above)