andy thibault

at the cool justice report reminds us

ELIZABETH THOMAS at Hill-Stead

In honor of the publication of her new collection of poems, From the Front of the Classroom, Hill-Stead is pleased to host a reading and book signing with author, performer and educator Elizabeth Thomas.

Taking the reader through her childhood, young adulthood and marriage to her passionate involvement with teaching and poetry, this collection reveals the rich inner life that has made Elizabeth Thomas such an inspiration.

"In a culture that expects results from its educators, Elizabeth Thomas has found a way to make a unique connection in her book, as in her classroom," comments former student Alex Lopez. Jeff Ostroff, Principal at Lyme-Old Lyme Middle School, says the poems "resonate with life so that the poet in all of us may sing.".......

Poetry Reading and Book Signing
Sunday, September 7, 3–5 pm
Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT

from the cool justice report

Famous Douche Bag Case Noted In National Muzzle Awards

.....................ANNOUNCING THE 2008 JEFFERSON MUZZLES:Who were the Best Censors of Last Year?...........

.............Lewis Mills High School Principal Karissa Niehoff and Connecticut Region 10 Superintendent of Schools Paula Schwartz for not allowing a student to run for class office because she posted comments critical of school officials on an Internet blog.............

from

the cool justice report
Via Hartford Business Journal http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news4373.html
i had NO idea this was happening in our fair state (so it's happening ALL over). shocking

OUTRAGEOUS & DESPICABLE: Connecticut Gulag
Connecticut's Secret Prisoners Contract With Feds Codifies Secret Political Prison System AG’s office contests FOI Cover documents about federal detainee sheld in state prisons By Laura Schreier Hartford Business Journal Staff Writer 01/28/08
Federal officials admit they keep detainees in covert prisons around the world, most notably at Guantanamo Bay, where many were held for years before their names were released to the public. But it comes as a surprise to some state officials that federal detainees are also held, secretly, right here in Connecticut. It’s all part of a contract between state and federal authorities: In exchange for a per-inmate fee, state officials agree to house federal prisoners arrested by homeland security. Connecticut has had such a contract with the federal government since 1995, but it was only after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that new regulations clamped down on information about those prisoners. According to legal arguments by state Assistant Attorney General Henri Alexandre, state authorities are prohibited from releasing any information about the federal detainees held behind bars in Connecticut prisons. That means that Connecticut could be holding detainees at any time, without a formal charge, said Lisa Siegel, counsel with the state’s Freedom of Information Commission. “This is a surprise to all of us, that there are secret prisons [in the state],” Siegel said. “The real harm of this regulation is that people are held now — we can’t get any information on them.” ...........

please stop by andy thibault's

cool justice report to see what's going on with the infamous 'douche bag case'. well his foi portion of it.

i highly recommend his blog in general by the way. not only does he report on justice mainly in our state (OR lack thereof) but he has many postings about the arts, literary in particular

Douche Bag FOI Hearing Runs Two-Plus Hours
Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission HearingJan. 4, 200818-20 Trinity St.Hartford, CT 860-566-5682 Complaint by Andy Thibault Against Paula Schwartz, Superintendent of Schools,Regional School District #10Editor's Note: Today's hearing opened shortly after 11:30 a.m. and concluded about 2 p.m. The hearing was taped by CT-N, the Connecticut Network. The network posts its schedule at http://www.ctn.state.ct.us/ and generally broadcasts such hearings a few days later.
Connecticut Network, CT-NThe hearing officer's decision generally follows several weeks later. However, both parties have until Jan. 17 to file briefs summarizing the case and making final arguments.The hearing officer's decision will be voted on during a regular meeting of the Freedom of Information Commission.In a significant development, counsel for the Region 10 Board of Education, Atty. Christine Chinni, agreed to produce unredacted billing records from her firm for an in-camera or confidential review by the FOI Commission. This followed requests during the hearing and in prior correspondence.Outstanding issues include the question of whether the Region 10 Board of Education is using an insurance company as a front or beard to hide public records. Other issues include claims that Superintendent Schwartz failed to produce records including ballots in a timely manner as required by the FOI law. A sample write-in ballot for Avery Doninger, Secretary Elect of the Lewis Mills High School Class of 2008, was entered into the record.Prior correspondence on file at the Freedom of Information Commission -- including a request for a subpoena of Chinni -- was not allowed into the hearing record.Chinni had written to the FOI Commission on Dec. 7, 2007: "While I will be representing the respondent, Paula Schwartz, Superintendent of Regional School District No. 10, in these proceedings, my partner, Craig Meuser, will present my sworn testimony on these matters."Chinni refused to testify today. No explanation was given.Most, but not all of my following remarks were allowed into the record. I also inserted a statement a couple of times as follows: The FOI law demands that the respondents produce originals of documents in a timely manner.-- Andy Thibault.................
(more at the link above)

remember october 14th!

free speech party rundown from cool justice report

(if you click on the flyer it will open bigger in another window)

a nice little write up

about what andy thibault is doing (BUT SHOULDN'T HAVE TO DO) because our constitutional rights are being slowly BUT surely taken away

if you're free on october 14th, why not attend the event at the litchfield inn?

"If You Stand Up, People Will Help Out"
A Ripple Effect in Reg. 10 Flap By Emily M. Olson Litchfield County Times09/20/2007LITCHFIELD - When Litchfield journalist Andy Thibault heard about Avery Doninger, a 17-year-old student at Lewis Mills High School in Burlington who was punished by school administrators for critical statements she made in a blog on an Internet Web page, he was outraged. And when the situation became a legal battle involving the student's First Amendment rights, he was disgusted and angry and wanted to do something. Now he's using that energy to help the Doninger family raise money to pay its continuing legal expenses to fight the Region 10 school district by organizing a fund-raiser at the Bistro East at the Litchfield Inn. On Oct. 14, "Poets and Writers for Avery: A Free Speech Festival" will be held involving Mr. Thibault's writer friends, including Wally Lamb, Ravi Shankar, Amy Ma, Franz Douskey, Rand Cooper, Jon Andersen, Ron Winter, Margo Schilpp, Oscar de los Santos and Luis Colavecchi. Five local bands have also been invited to perform. .............

......"We'll have a great time and we're doing something that's important," he said. "It's like a 'Field of Dreams,' -- if you stand up, people will help out."E-mail tntcomm82@cs.com, or call 860-690-0211 for information and tickets. ...............

free speech (especially for avery doninger)

this wrong MUST be righted

via cool justice report

Ten Poets & Writers For Avery Doninger At Free Speech Festival With Five Live Bands; Wally Lamb Tops Bill

FLYER ATTACHED; plz FORWARD at will
The Bistro East, Litchfield Inn1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14, 2007
Novelist Wally Lamb will be among 10 poets and writers reading from their works in a celebration honoring free speech freedom fighter Avery Doninger Sunday, Oct. 14, 2007 at the Litchfield Inn's Bistro East Ballroom. Also, other special guests might show up at the last moment.The event begins at 1 p.m. and includes live music by four high school bands. Hors d'oeuvres, cheese and fruit will be served and there will be a cash bar.Doninger, a senior at Lewis S. Mills High School in Burlington, has civil rights actions pending in the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City and U.S. District Court in New Haven. She and her mother, Lauren Doninger, sued Principal Karissa Niehoff and Superintendent Paula Schwartz after they removed Avery from the ballot for Class of 2008 secretary.Avery Doninger was among a group of four students who lobbied the community for support of an annual battle of the bands sponsored by the Student Council. Schwartz became very upset after taxpayers called her and she cancelled the event known as Jamfest. Doninger subsequently referred to administrators in a live journal blog as central office douchebags, and Schwartz's son found the posting a couple weeks later. While Avery Doninger was banned from school office, another student who called Schwartz a dirty whore was given an award and lauded for citizenship.School officials suppressed the write-in vote in which Doninger was elected by a plurality. Schwartz refused to accept Doninger's apology for her choice of words. During an assembly, Niehoff banned free-speech and Team Avery t-shirts and seized at least one shirt.The Doningers are seeking -- among other remedies -- an apology for civil rights violations, recognition of the write-in victory and sharing of the secretary position with the administration-backed candidate.U.S. District Judge Mark Kravitz denied a motion for a preliminary injunction and his ruling is being appealed to the Second Circuit...............

(more if you click the link above)

from the cool justice report

Making Perverts Pay

Megan Kanka and Jessica Lunsford:Battling Sexual Predators
By RICHARD MEEHAN
The Cool Justice Reportwww.cooljustice.blogspot.com
July 11, 2007
EDITOR'S NOTE: This column is available for reprint courtesy of The Cool Justice Report, http://cooljustice.blogspot.com

The tortured and ravaged death of a child has once again defined the law in Connecticut. In 1994 seven-year-old Megan Kanka was raped and murdered by a convicted sex offender who had moved into her New Jersey neighborhood. No one knew that a sexual predator named Jesse Timmendequas lived only doors down from Megan’s home. He lured her inside with a promise to see a puppy. He had two prior convictions for the sexual assault of very young children.Megan’s death became the catalyst for the establishment of sex offender registration programs through out the country. Profiles and locations of registered sex offenders are now available online in Connecticut at www.ct.gov/dps/cwp.


In 2005, 10-year-old Jessica Lunsford was abducted, raped and murdered by another convicted sex offender. Following her death Jessica’s dad, Mark Lunsford, crystallized efforts for more stringent controls of sex offenders and greater prison sentences. Ironically Jessica’s older brother was later arrested for unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.As we have adopted a version of Megan’s Law, Connecticut has now adopted a version of Jessica’s Law. Jessica’s Law, Public Act 07-143, effective July 1, 2007. The purpose of the Act was to create mandatory minimum sentences for sex offenses against minors under the age of 13. Here are some of the highlights of the law:Section 3 of Jessica’s Law creates a new offense of aggravated sexual assault on a child under age 13, which now becomes a Class A felony with a penalty of a 25-year minimum mandatory sentence for a first conviction, and 50-year minimum mandatory sentence for a second offense;......................

listen to andy and colin

plan a poety gathering while they were on the air yesterday

go here for the podcast link

andy's blog the cool justice report

colin's blog to wit

is anyone taking a look at the waterbury police department?

i have been following the billy smolinski case (thanks to andy thibault at the cool justice report). seems the waterbury police department* ROYALLY screwed things up. seems like the did it on PURPOSE, not as an oversight. seems like they were protecting people they should have been investigating.

to the smolinskis, i really do hope you find the answers you seek. i'm sorry for your loss and your pain. i'm sorry the people who were supposed to help, serve and protect (as in the waterbury police department) DID NOT do so.

thanks to the cool justice report for forwarding this article to me

oh and a shout out to all of the OTHER journalists who have not let the smolinski case fade away. the family deserves the truth
Buried Secrets

By John Murray
She couldn't go.
Janice Smolinski knew that if she drove to Shelton she'd be on her knees clawing at the earth to uncover Billy. No, she couldn't go, Janice and her husband Bill had to first process the devastating information they had just read in the Waterbury police report. After three years of searching for their 31 year old son, the Smolinskis now believed they knew what happened to Billy when he vanished from his life in August 2004. The moment that Bill and Janice Smolinski had long sought was here, but it wasn't playing out the way they'd imagined..........

............The Observer visited Waterbury Police Chief Neil O'Leary's office and he was direct in saying he suspected foul play. O'Leary was not involved with the investigation and hooked the Observer up with deputy chief Jimmy Egan and told him to share information with the newspaper. Egan began by calling Billy Smolinski a mixed up kid who is probably in Europe having a cold beer. Egan challenged the credibility of Janice Smolinski by inferring she was a bit daffy because she had talked with psychics. After several minutes of smearing the Smolinskis, Egan asked if we had any other questions. When we asked about the love triangle he began to squirm. When we specifically asked about Chris Sorensen the deputy chief asked if we were going to publish his name.
When we said we might, Egan said we'd ruin the guy's life. Egan paced back and forth across the room and appeared to be more concerned with protecting Sorensen and Gleason than finding out what happened to Billy Smolinski. A second meeting with Egan three days later was in stark contrast. He was subdued and concerned about the Smolinski family and their search for Billy. He stated he had lots of empathy for the Smolinskis and had never said a bad word about them.
That was a lie..............

ah, but that's NOT all. i happened to be watching nbc (dateline) the other day. to my amazement what do i see? a story about how the waterbury police department MESSED UP AGAIN (earlier, in 1993, but this along with the smolinski case certainly would be sending up red flags to me)

a woman was raped (her children sleeping in rooms next to her), reported it to the waterbury police department and they turn around and threaten HER with arrest because they didn't believe her????

Former ‘Jane Doe’ fights for other rape victims
Police ignored Donna Palomba's case, now she's helping others seek justice


By John Springer
TODAYShow.com contributor
Updated: 9:24 a.m. ET April 27, 2007
Donna Palomba was alone in bed on a September night in 1993, when she heard the distinct sound of footsteps approaching closer and closer.
Then she saw him. The man in the mask.
With her husband away on business and her children asleep down the hall, the Waterbury, Conn., woman was no match for the shadowy figure in her bedroom. Armed with a knife and a handgun, he cut Palomba's bed clothes and raped her.
When it was over, the man menaced Palomba with the gun and threatened to return and kill her if she told anyone about the assault. Although she did run to the home of a neighbor and called 911, for some time afterward Palomba wondered if calling police was a mistake.
They didn't believe her.
The lead investigator for the Waterbury Police Department accused Palomba of making up the story, and threatened to charge her with making a false police report...............

(*in all fairness chief neil o'leary appears to at the very least be willing to listen.)

from our friends at

the cool justice report

a celebration of writers and poets on may 6th at 10:30 am at fiddleheads in litchfield

details at the link above (do click it!!!)

May 6 / Fiddleheads Natural Supermarket
For More Information Contact Fiddleheads Market
55 Village Green Drive
Litchfield, CT 06759
860-567-1900

Presenters* Barbara Parsons, Couldn't Keep It To Myself, Testimonies from Our Imprisoned Sisters, Harper Collins, edited by Wally Lamb; forthcoming: I'll Fly Away; Further Testimonies from Our Imprisoned Sisters, HarperCollins, edited by Wally Lamb.
* Martin Schiller, Bread, Butter And Sugar: A Boy's Journey Through The Holocaust And Postwar Europe, Hamilton Books.* Shouhua Qi, New: Red Guard Fantasies and Other Stories (San Francisco: The Long River Press, 2007); When the Purple Mountain Burns (San Francisco: The Long River Press, 2005). Forthcoming: a novel about American Korean War POWs who chose to go to China at the time of armistice (1953).
* Sharon Charde, Bad Girl at the Altar Rail, Flume Press; Four Trees Down From Ponte Sisto, Dallas Poets Community Press; editor, I Am Not A Juvenile Delinquent, anthology by the creative writing students of Touchstone, a residential treatment facility for female adolescent offenders in Litchfield, Ct.Forthcoming, Branch In His Hand, Backwaters Press.* Oscar De Los Santos, Hard Boiled Egg (Fine Tooth Press, 2004) and Infinite Wonderlands (Fine Tooth Press, 2006).* Jessica Treat, A Robber in the House (Coffee House Press) and Not a Chance, stories and novella (FC2, 2000).* Louis Colavecchio, forthcoming, You Thought It Was More: The Real Providence Brought To Life.* Franz Douskey, Rowing Across The Dark, University of Georgia Press. Forthcoming, The Unknown Sinatra.The readings follow a reception at 10:30 a.m. by the Litchfield High Jazz Combo.