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Bar News - January 3, 2003 Morning Mail Ricker Award Winner Corrects Inaccuracies Like Deborah Cooper, I would like to correct some inaccuracies that appeared in the Oct. 18, 2002 Bar News article about our receipt of the (New Hampshire Women's Bar Association) Marilla Ricker Achievement Award. First, let me repeat what a tremendous honor it was for me to have received this award. However, several facts that appeared in the article about my background were not accurate. I am not the president of the Manchester Area Human Resources Association. I am the immediate past president. Nor did I work at Gottesman & Hollis as a legal secretary, paralegal, law clerk and associate. I had worked for Gus McDonough as a legal secretary, paralegal and law clerk. Gus paid for my college education during the years that I worked for him. Following law school, I joined Hamblett & Kerrigan as an associate and then joined Gottesman & Hollis, also as an associate, and later became a partner. I did not join McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton as a partner in 1992. Rather, I joined as an associate and was later elected to be a partner. And, I do not know whether I was the first woman elected to the Board of Governors of the New Hampshire Bar Association. I suspect not. I was, however, the first woman officer of the Bar when I was elected treasurer in 1988. And, I am not the sole head of the Employment Law Practice Group at my firm. I co-chair McLane's Employment Law Practice Group with Bob Jauron. I am, however, the chair of our Education Law Practice Group. As Deborah pointed out, I would hate to find myself in the same dilemma as the Notre Dame football coach who was fired as the result of an inaccurate resume. So here are some corrections to set the record straight. Linda S. Johnson, Manchester Editor's note: For the article on this year's NH Women's Bar Marilla Ricker Achievement Award winners, Bar News used biographical sketches that were included in an awards program, which apparently included some inaccuracies. We apologize for the errors. Constitution Isn't 'Freeze-Dried' Set of Rules Gregory Sorg of Franconia (see "Morning Mail" in Oct. 18, 2002 Bar News or visit "Recent Letters to Bar News" under Publications) recapitulates the limitations the Supreme Court has placed on Amendment XIV and reminds us that no member of Congress or the state legislatures in the mid-1860s gave any thought to the rights of homosexuals, which must be news to someone. He also indicates his personal dislike of what he believes is a tendency by modern courts to engage in policy-making. What Mr. Sorg doesn't discuss is the fact that the U.S. Constitution was drafted as a set of principles intended to shape and control the development of what could only be a changing society. Reading the Constitution as a set of freeze-dried rules that does not comment on contemporary issues is a mistake not intended by its drafters. We are not trapped in 1867 (thankfully, if you ask me), and we now can, and do, think about the rights of homosexuals. Applying the principle of equal protection embodied in Amendment XIV, it's quite fair to wonder how restricting same-sex marriages conforms with the edict that, "No state shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdictions the equal protection of the laws." The fact that our forefathers did not consider the same question does not restrict us from considering it ourselves. They expected that we would apply their principles to our circumstances. The Constitution was their way of telling us to do as they said, not as they did - and what they said was, "Don't deny any person the equal protection of the laws." They may not have followed that instruction themselves, but we should. Tim Scannell, Grand Marais, MN Unless otherwise indicated, opinions expressed in letters or commentaries published in Bar News are solely that of the authors, and do not reflect the policies of the New Hampshire Bar Association Board of Governors, its officers, or staff. |
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