I Wish Y'all Had Been There

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Speakers for Law Day 2006 were very good. A special thanks to the panel members:
US Rep.Brad Miller (D-NC13)
NC State Sen. Philip E. Berger (R-Minority Leader)
NC Superior Court Judge John O. Craig, III
Margaret A. Dudley (Attorney and NCA&T Adjunct Professor)
Norman B. Smith (Practicing Attorney)
UNCG Professor David Lefkowitz,
Professor George R. Johnson, Jr. (Moderator)

Professor Johnson, the moderator, kept the debate informal and friendly and regulated the pace of the conversation very well. A little partisan politics crept into the presentation, as well it should have. But members of the forum and the audience were all well behaved and interesting. The conversation centered on this year's theme "Liberty Under Law: Separate Branches, Balanced Powers." NC State government was discussed, as well as National Issues about how the three branches of government interact.

Judge Craig mentioned that members of the NC Judicial Branch are somewhat restricted because they depend on the Legislative Branch for funding and that the NC Legislature regulates how the money in the Judicial Branch can be used. He suggested that the Judicial Branch is not just another agency of government. It is a separate branch and should be given equal status by the NC Legislature.

There will always be some friction between the branches and that is good. I think the Founding Fathers planned it that way. Anyway, I won't go into much of the conversation. I was busy helping with the program and did not take notes. The entire program was videotaped and I hope to review it soon. I wish all of you could have been there.

Maybe I will post some photos (when I figure out how to do it) of the student winners of the contest: Explaining "Separate Branches, Balanced Powers"

Elementary School Winners:
1st Place: Alex Bruno & Jack Sartore (Our Lady of Grace School)
2nd Place: Jonah Carmichael (Our Lady of Grace School)
3rd Place: Andy O'Brien (Stokesdale Elementary School)

Middle School Winners:
First Place: Mary Fontana & Cynthia Paniagua (Ferndale Middle School)
2nd Place: Anne Lucas (Canterbury School)
3rd Place: (tie) Jordan Cannon (Canterbury School) and Taylor Oots (Ferndale Middle School)





Thanks again to the committee who organized this program and to the sponsors: The Greensboro Bar Association, League of Women Voters of the Piedmont Triad, NC Court Watch, YWCA of Greensboro, American Association of University Women, Greensboro Public Library, A&T State University Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice, and the Program on Constitutional and Legal Policy of the Open Society Institute.

Maybe I will post some photos of the student winners of the contest to explain "Separate Branches, Balanced Powers"