📚🙏🏽⚖️ EDUCATION/RELIGION/SOCIAL JUSTICE — FROM LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY REUNION 2022 — AN INVOCATION FOR OUR TIMES — REV. SCOTT W. ALEXANDER (LU ’71) — “And let us refuse to abrogate what we learn here – that truth matters…that all people have inherent worth and dignity…and that together (with wisdom and goodwill) we can build a social order of decency, inclusion, justice and hope.”

Located on bluffs above the mighty and historic Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin, on the ancestral homelands of the Menominee and Ho-Chunk people, Lawrence University was founded in 1847 as the second coeducational college in America and the first in Wisconsin! Today, approximately 1,500 Lawrentians attend one of America’s leading liberal arts colleges!

INVOCATION

Reunion convocation Lawrence University Saturday, June18 –11AM
Rev. Scott W. Alexander – Class of 1971

Dear Spirit of life and love – that holy-yet- fragile presence which animates and informs this troubled world of ours, and constantly tries to lure us toward goodness, compassion and truth — be with us this hour as we remember and recommit to the highest principles and purposes of this institution.

The Motto of Lawrence University – this treasured institution that helped shape our lives and give meaning to our work in this world – is”VERITASESTLUX[Veritas-est-lucks]”-

Latin (of course) for “Truth Is light.1

Simple, right?…The light of Truth will show us the way to our best human selves, and a rational, just and humane world.

Maybe…but in these complicated times, truth itself (and all the intellectual. scientific and moral standards that underpin it) are dangerously up for grabs.

Sadly, our culture is now on the tragic cusp of becoming a rudderless “POST-TRUTH SOCIETY”…where everything Lawrence University stands for– truth, reason, critical thinking, discernment and progress — are no longer self-evident, or the dominant modes of thinking and discourse. This time we live in is polluted by rampant disinformation, gaslighting, conspiracy theories, sinister deceptions, and outright lies. In such a dangerous environment, this University becomes “counter-culture” when it insists on clear and rigorous intellectual and moral standards…and a reliance of facts and data — rather than revisionist history or one’s “personal” truths.

Let us then, on this day and all days to follow, defend and honor the values and commitments upon which this University stands. And let us refuse to abrogate what we learn here – that truth matters…that all people have inherent worth and dignity…and that together (with wisdom and goodwill) we can build a social order of decency, inclusion, justice and hope.

Amen

 

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Rev. Alexander also received the George B. Walter ’36 Service to Society Award. Afterward, he was kind enough to share the “delivery copy” of his Invocation with me for publication here.

Here’s his bio from the Lawrence University Alumni Office:

Scott Alexander ’71

Head shot of Scott Alexander '71
Scott Alexander ’71

Alexander, of Vero Beach, Florida, has been an ordained minister with Unitarian Universalist congregations and has served in numerous UU leadership roles over the past four-plus decades. He travels widely, speaking, preaching, and offering in-depth workshops on a variety of UU and faith-related subjects. He has authored or edited five books as part of his UU ministry, covering topics ranging from affirming LGBTQ inclusion to AIDS resources to everyday spiritual practices.

A student-athlete while at Lawrence, Alexander continues to enjoy endurance events. The former marathoner has now completed four coast-to-coast charity bike rides that have raised more than $150,000.

Along the lines of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, “Rev. Scott” shows that you can say a lot without speaking a lot! That’s one of the many, many benefits of a liberal arts education and a reason for promoting diversity and expansion of availability within the liberal arts educational “model.”

Folks at the reunion had excelled and given back to society in a mind-bogglingly wide range of fields — from farming to art, business, medicine, biophysics, law, religion, entertainment, healing, craft brewing, real estate, library science, journalism, philosophy, aviation, military service, religion, pet services, language learning, writing, working with vets, law enforcement, music, hospitality, civil service, child care, elder care, social work, philanthropy, deaf services, performing arts, administration, economics, international understanding, finance, environmental protection, and almost everything in between.

One of my classmates had been through 22 different jobs in 50 years since we graduated and contributed, learned, and grew in every one of them! Talk about flexibility and being prepared to find meaning in anything life throws your way! Another earned my “vote for God” through her consistently positive view of life, intellectual creativity, and ability to combine them in a never-ending quest for spiritual healing of those, like vets and abused populations, suffering from severe trauma!

I had lunch with two stars of the “new generation” who — 15 years out — were inspiring a diverse groups of younger Americans — including Native Americans — as teachers in secondary and higher education. One was a former student of my son-in-law (now a Professor at Beloit College), showing how interconnected we all are!

In the words of Rev. Scott, we all worked to promote a “society of decency, inclusion, justice and hope.” I wish I could say the job is done. But, obviously it isn’t. Despite our efforts, there has been disheartening backsliding and regression in the fight for truth over lies, justice over bias, and humanity over hate!

We “50+ Reunionists” are fighters and “applied idealists.” We will never stop battling for our values!

But, we are also imperfect humans and realists. We must accept our human mortality and rely on the upcoming generation (“the NDPA”) to complete the job we inevitably will leave as a “work in progress.” Ultimately, whether truth, light, and human dignity; or lies, vile myths, hate, and intentional dehumanization, triumph will be up to them and their vision of the world in which they will live and leave to future generations!

The forces of darkness and illiberality alluded to by Rev. Scott are present, energized, and determined to thwart justice and human progress. Triumphing over them and “lighting the world with truth” will take constant, concerted, inspired, and never-ending energy and effort!

I am a proud LU ’70 graduate. My wife Cathy (Piehl) Schmidt is LU ’69. Our daughter Anna Patchin Schmidt is LU ’06.

 🇺🇸🗽⚖️ Due Process Forever!

PWS

06-22-22

But, wait, there’s more!

Lawrence University Class of 1970: Five generations out and still going strong! — From one turbulent time in America to another!

 

Rev. John Fease (LU ‘70), one of Appleton’s most passionate advocates for social justice, talking with retired librarian Walter Stitt (LU ‘70), John Kaufman (LU ‘67), and LU Athletic Hall of Famer, former coach, and well-known pottery artist Rich Agnes (LU ‘67). I dubbed Rev. Fease “Appleton’s Mr. Condom” for his leadership and tireless work on behalf of Planned Parenthood!
LU Alums gather for the “Parade of the Classes.”
Class of ‘70 buddies for life (l-r) Dr. Sue Mahle, Mary Freeman Borgh, Martha Esch Schott, Class Secretary Extraordinaire Phyllis Russ Pengelly, and Emeritus LU Trustee Jeff “Ralph” Riester share some good times, past and present.
Generations confabbing at Brat Picnics are a Lawrence tradition (mine, of course, was totally “plant based”). Carolyn Grieco (LU ‘08) is bringing truth and light to new generations as a Spanish teacher in Antioch, Illinois! You can actually see “the light of Lawrence” shining above us through the campus tree canopy! Lawrence currently is leading the way among institutions of higher learning in sustainable energy and renewable resources!

A FAREWELL TO NORTY:  Remembering My Friend, Classmate, “Bro,” & Remarkable American Journalist, Zay Nockton “Norty” Smith — 1949 – 2020 — Was “Norty the Bartender” In Famous “Mirage Tavern” Journalism “Sting” Exposing Chicago Corruption!

Zay Smith
Zay Nockton “Norty”
Smith
1949-2020
Lawrence University ’70
Noted American Journalist, Writer, Card Player

We met in the fall of 1966 at “historic” Brokaw Hall, then the freshmen men’s residence, at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. “Norty” was a “regular” at the card tables in the lounge. 

Later, we became friends and “brothers” at the notorious “Sig Ep House,” then located behind the red door at 726 East John Street. That’s right across from Russell Sage Hall, then a women’s dorm. That’s also where our brother “Dick the Stick” once ran a “borrowed” Bobcat from a local construction project up the Sage steps, leaving a deep gash on one of the columns supporting the portico. I remember our kids were impressed when I showed them the then-still-existing mark decades later during an LU reunion (this would have been our “50th,” but we’ve had to “go virtual, at least for now). Something about “For it’s not for knowledge that we’ve come to college, but to raise Hell while we’re here . . . .”

All that nonsense aside, there was plenty of learning and knowledge gathering going on beneath our juvenile stupidity and hijinks. Among the things that marked Norty as one of the “characters”who stays with you for life: humor, satire, and writing. The man could write, boy could he write. Even in those days he stood out as someone who “had the talent” in the world of a small liberal arts college where writing was a “big deal” and many folks did it well. 

For awhile, Norty published his own “underground newspaper,” the Bourgeois Pig, sort of an early forerunner of The Onion. I probably didn’t fully appreciate the true brilliance of “The Pig” at the time. But, I like to think that “a little Pig” still lives on at “Courtside.” If my suppressed ambition was to someday become a “gonzo journalist,” Norty actually lived his dream. He became a real journalist, and a great and famous one at that. Up until his death, his blog writings and Facebook postings would bring a chuckle to my wife Cathy who also was “one of our gang” at Lawrence.

Eventually, Norty and I along with the rest of our “happy brotherhood” — Mink, Biff, Bear, Stick, Liv, SJS, Crummy Andy, B.I., Flip the Owl, Rufus, Joe Don, Hatchell, SK, Herbie, Ma Fowls, Ski, Scottie and a host of other characters — all resided together, if not always in harmony, at “The Ep House.” There was a 24-hour “Shoss” (a/k/a “Sheepshead”) game going in the card room, which, not surprisingly, usually involved Norty. Seems to me that he finished even further “down” the semester-long “owes” tab posted on the wall than I did. But, I could be wrong about that. I’ll readily concede that he played more often and with more skill and strategy than I did.

After a stint in grad school in Iowa City, Norty settled in Chicago where he became a “big time” reporter for the Sun Times. His most famous caper, for which he received national, and perhaps international, attention was the “Norty the Bartender” sting operation in the late 1970s. It’s detailed in all its glory, along with some wonderful “period” photos, in the extensive and beautifully written Sun Times obit by Mark Brown, linked below. But, as Mark points out, there was much more to Norty’s life, career, and his writing than that one blockbuster.

Amazingly, our “band of bros,” or at least the survivors, eventually grew up and became (somewhat) respectable, accomplished, distinguished, and productive members of society: doctors, lawyers, teachers, artists, executives, journalists, judges, writers, government officials, military officers, businessmen, authors, horsemen, etc. Like many of us, Norty married, and he and his wife Susy had two terrific sons, Bryant, and Zachary of whom he was exceedingly proud. Indeed, Norty’s family was kind and caring enough to keep all of “the gang” posted on his condition and how we could still share with him right up until the end.

Over the years, I sporadically kept in touch with Norty and the rest of the “Chicago branch of the gang.” I recollect that as my travels as a government, and then private, lawyer sometimes took me to Chicago, I occasionally was able to meet up with Norty, Ski, Bear and the others for a beer or two at some local watering hole. 

We also had some more full-fledged “mini-reunions” in Chicago. One that Cathy and I attended around 2001 hosted by Ski and his wife involved Norty riding in the back cargo area of the station wagon as we headed to a White Sox game. Another, was hosted by “Bear & Betsy” for the Wisconsin-Northwestern football game in Evanston in November  2016. Following the inevitable Badger victory, we all repaired back to Bear and Betsy’s for a great dinner and a massive “Shoss” game with Norty in attendance. Bear “strictly enforced” the “no politics rule” — something that had been added, apparently out of necessity born out of experience, since our days in the old Ep card room.

Sadly, that was the “last hurrah” for that particular configuration of our band. The last time I spoke with Norty by phone was in July 2017. The voice message said “Wick, call me ASAP.” When I did, Norty said “Sit down, you’re not going to like this.” I remember momentarily thinking that he was about to blast me for some egregious grammatical or factual error (or both) on Courtside, or to ask me for advice for a friend on some hopeless immigration case. 

But, no, it was much, much worse. Norty called to tell me that our dear friend and brother Russ “Biff Stoney” Birkos had died suddenly. I sat next to Biff at the last football game, and had rushed to his aid when he was viciously “taken out” by a knee-high metal post in the stadium parking lot. Biff’s first reaction had been: “You’re a lawyer, Wick, can we sue? If not, what good are you?” Typical “brotherhood banter.”

I never spoke with Norty again after Biff’s death, although we continued to keep in touch through our e-mail group.

So, now, yet another of us is gone. Norty, has taken his wit, wisdom, and penetrating human insights on to a “higher audience.” “It’s life,” of course. And, it was expected. But, as I have found at other times, that doesn’t make it any easier. I know how much Susy, Bryant, and Zachary miss him. We all do. A life well-lived and elegantly recounted in every way.

Farewell, Norty. And, thanks for the memories and for everything else, including wiping out my final “Shoss debt!”

A much more extensive and more eloquent obit by Mark Brown of the Sun Times is posted here:
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/5/12/21255842/zay-n-smith-mirage-tavern-qt-quick-takes-obituary

Specials thanks to Bear for getting the obit around so quickly and to Ski for his always inspiring and uplifting comments! 

Brothers Forever!

PWS

05-14-20

 

MY SCARFF DISTINGUISHED VISITING PROFESSORSHIP LECTURE @ LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY, April 4, 2019 — “EXISTENTIALISM AND THE MEANING OF LIFE IN THE U.S. IMMIGRATION COURT: FROM LAWRENCE TO THE WORLD BEYOND”

EXISTENTIALISM AND THE MEANING OF LIFE IN THE U.S. IMMIGRATION COURT: FROM LAWRENCE TO THE WORLD BEYOND

By

Paul Wickham Schmidt

Retired U.S. Immigration Judge

Lawrence University

Appleton, Wisconsin

April 4, 2019

KEY EXCERPTS:

. . . .

In that respect, September 13, 2018 was a highly significant day in Lawrence history. For, on that day President Burstein delivered his Commencement address posing the question “Can We Stand With The Statue of Liberty?” This wasn’t your usual “namby-pamby “welcome to college and life in the big time” sleeper. By comparison, one of the introductory speeches at another institution attended by one of our children focused on the protocols for “stomach pumping” in the emergency detoxification ward of the local hospital. Important information to be sure, but not very inspirational or reassuring.

President Burstein made an urgent call to value knowledge and learning, improve our national dialogue, recognize our undeniable immigrant heritageand culture, and use the learning and skills developed at Lawrence and other great institutions to create a better and more socially just future for all of mankind. Never, in the nearly 50 years since I left Lawrence have I seen those basic, common-sense concepts and universal values of Western liberal democracy under greater attack and daily ridicule by those for whom facts and human decency simply don’t matter!

. . . . 

Folks, unknown to most of you in this room there is an existential crisis going on in our U.S. Immigration Courts, one of America’s largest, most important, little known, and least understood court systems. It threatens the very foundations of our legal system, our Constitution, and our republic. In the words of country singing superstar Toby Keith, tonight “It’s me, baby, with your wake-up call!”

. . . .

Lawrence taught the humane practical values of fairness, scholarship, timeliness, respect, and teamwork which have guided me in life. Lawrence emphasized critical thinking — how to examine a problem from all angles and to appreciate differing perspectives.

I was introduced to informed dialogue and spirited debate as keys to problem solving, techniques I have continued to use. I also learned how to organize and write clearly and persuasively, skills I have used in all phases of my life.

I found that my broad liberal arts education, ability to deal with inevitable ups and downs, including, of course, learning from mistakes and failures, and the intensive writing and intellectual dialogue involved were the best possible preparation for all that followed.  

. . . .

Among other things, I worked on the Iranian Hostage Crisis, the Cuban Boatlift, the Refugee Act of 1980, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (“IRCA”), the creation of the Office of Immigration Litigation (OIL), and establishing what has evolved into the modern Chief Counsel system at Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”).  

I also worked on the creation of EOIR, which combined the Immigration Courts, which had previously been part of the INS, with the BIA to improve judicial independence. Interestingly, and perhaps ironically, the leadership and impetus for getting the Immigration Judges into a separate organization came from Iron Mike and the late Al Nelson, who was then the Commissioner of Immigration. Tough prosecutors by position and litigators by trade, they saw the inherent conflicts and overall undesirability, from a due process and credibility standpoint, of having immigration enforcement and impartial court adjudication in the same division. I find it troubling that officials at todays DOJ arent able to understand and act appropriately on the glaring conflict of interest currently staring them in their collective faces.

. . . .

Now, lets move on to the other topics:  First, vision.   The “EOIR Vision” was: Through teamwork and innovation, be the worlds best administrative tribunals, guaranteeing fairness and due process for all.In one of my prior incarnations, I was part of the group that developed that vision statement.  Perhaps not surprisingly given the timing, that vision echoed the late Janet Reno’s “equal justice for alltheme.  

Sadly, the Immigration Court System now is moving further away from that due process vision. Instead, years of neglect, misunderstanding, mismanagement, and misguided political priorities imposed by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) have created judicial chaos with an expanding backlog now exceeding an astounding one million cases and, perhaps most disturbingly, no clear plan for resolving them in the foreseeable future.  There are now more pending cases in Immigration Court than in the entire U.S. District Court System, including both Civil and Criminal dockets, with fewer U.S. Immigration Judges currently on board than U.S. District Judges.  

This Administration has added hundreds of thousands of new cases to the Immigration Court docket, again without any transparent plan for completing the already pending cases consistent with due process and fairness. Indeed, over the past several years, the addition of more judges has actually meant more backlog. In fact, notably, and most troubling, concern for fairness and due process in the immigration hearing process has not appeared to be a priority or a major objective in the Administrations many pronouncements on immigration.

Nobody has been hit harder by this preventable disaster than asylum seekers, particularly scared women, children, and families fleeing for their lives from the Northern Triangle of Central America.  

. . . .

My good friend and colleague, Judge Dana Leigh Marks of the San Francisco Immigration Court, who is the President of the National Association of Immigration Judges, offers a somewhat pithier description: [I]mmigration judges often feel asylum hearings are like holding death penalty cases in traffic court.’”

. . . .

From my perspective, as an Immigration Judge I was half scholar, half performing artist. An Immigration Judge is always on public display, particularly in this age of the Internet.”  His or her words, actions, attitudes, and even body language, send powerful messages, positive or negative, about our court system and our national values. Perhaps not surprisingly, the majority of those who fail at the job do so because they do not recognize and master the performing artistaspect, rather than from a lack of pertinent legal knowledge.  

. . . .

Next, Ill say a few words about my judicial philosophy.  In all aspects of my career, I have found five essential elements for success that go back to my time at Lawrence:  fairness, scholarship, timeliness, respect, and teamwork.  

Obviously, fairness to the parties is an essential element of judging.  Scholarship in the law is what allows us to fairly apply the rules in particular cases.  However, sometimes attempts to be fair or scholarly can be ineffective unless timely.  In some cases, untimeliness can amount to unfairness no matter how smart or knowledgeable you are.  

Respect for the parties, the public, colleagues, and appellate courts is absolutely necessary for our system to function.  Finally, I view the whole judging process as a team exercise that involves a coordinated and cooperative effort among judges, respondents, counsel, interpreters, court clerks, security officers, administrators, law clerks and interns working behind the scenes, to get the job done correctly.  Notwithstanding different roles, we all shared a common interest in seeing that our justice system works.

Are the five elements that I just mentioned limited to Immigration Court?  They are not only essential legal skills, they are also necessary life skills, whether you are running a courtroom, a law firm, a family, a PTA meeting, a book club, or a soccer team.  

. . . .

Our Immigration Courts are going through an existential crisis that threatens the very foundations of our American Justice System.  Earlier, I told you about my dismay that the noble due process vision of our Immigration Courts has been derailed.  What can be done to get it back on track?  

First, and foremost, the Immigration Courts must return to the focus on due process as the one and only mission. The improper use of our due process court system by political officials to advance enforcement priorities and/or send dont comemessages to asylum seekers, which are highly ineffective in any event, must end.  Thats unlikely to happen under the DOJ as proved by over three decades of history, particularly recent history. It will take some type of independent court. I advocate an independent Article I Immigration Court, which has been supported by groups such as the American Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the National Association of Immigration Judges.

Clearly, the due process focus was lost even during the last Administration when officials outside EOIR forced ill-advised prioritizationand attempts to expeditethe cases of frightened women and children from the Northern Triangle who require lawyers to gain the protection that most of them need and deserve. Putting these cases in front of other pending cases was not only unfair to all, but created what I call aimless docket reshufflingthat has thrown the Immigration Court system into chaos and dramatically increased the backlogs.

Although those misguided priorities have been rescinded, the current Administration has greatly expanded the prioritytargets for removal to include essentially anyone who is here without documentation. We had an old saying in the bureaucracy that “when everything becomes a priority, nothing is a priority.”  Moreover, Attorney General Sessions stripped Immigration Judges of their authority to “administratively close” low priority cases and those that could be referred to DHS for possible legal status.  Incredibly, he also directed that more than 300,000 previously “administratively closed” low-priority cases be “restored” to dockets already backlogged for many years.

This Administration also greatly expanded the immigration detention empire,I call it the “New American Gulag.” Immigration detention centers are likely to be situated in remote locations near the Southern Border, relying largely on discredited private for profitprisons.  Have you heard of places like Jena, Louisiana or Dilley, Texas?

Individuals detained in such out-of-the-way places are often unable to obtain legal assistance or get the documentation necessary to present a successful asylum case. So-called “civil immigration detention” is used to coerce individuals out of making or appealing claims for protection in Immigration Court and also inhibits the ability of an individual to put on his or her “life or death” case.

This Administration also wants to make it more difficult for individuals to get full Immigration Court hearings on asylum claims and to expand the use of so-called expedited removal,thereby seeking to completely avoid the Immigration Court process.

They also have created and recently expanded what is known as the “Remain in Mexico Program.”  Under that program, which is being challenged in Federal Court, even those who pass initial screening and are determined by an Asylum Officer to have a “credible fear” of persecution are forced to remain in questionable conditions in Mexico while their cases are pending in Immigration Court.

Before he was fired, Attorney General Sessions imposed new “production quotas” on Immigration Judges, over their objection and that of almost all experts in the field. That insures that judges will be focused on churning out “numbers” to keep their jobs, rather than on making fair, impartial, scholarly, and just decisions.

But even these harsh measures aren’t enough. As you have no doubt read or heard, the President is threatening to “close the Mexican border” notwithstanding that Mexico is our third leading trading partner. Just Monday, he said that the solution was to eliminate Immigration Judges rather than provide fair hearings in a timely manner.

Evidently, the idea is to remove without full due process those who arrive at our border to seek protection under our laws and international conventions to which we are party. According to the Administration, this will send a powerful dont come, we dont want youmessage to asylum seekers.

But, as a deterrent, the Administration’s harsh enforcement program, parts of which have been ruled illegal by the Federal Courts, has been spectacularly unsuccessful. Not surprisingly to me, individuals fleeing for their lives from the Northern Triangle have continued to seek refuge in the United States in large numbers.  Immigration Court backlogs have continued to grow across the board, notwithstanding an actual decrease in overall case receipts and an increase in the number of authorized Immigration Judges.

. . . .

Keep these thoughts in mind.  Sadly, based on actions to date, I have little hope that Attorney General Barr will support due process reforms or an independent U.S. Immigration Court, although it would be in his best interests as well as those of our country if he did.  However, eventually the opportunity will come.  When it does, those of us who believe in the primary importance of constitutional due process must be ready with concrete reforms.

So, do we abandon all hope?  No, of course not!   Because there are hundreds of newer lawyers out there who are former Arlington JLCs, interns, my former students, those who have practiced before me, and others who have an overriding commitment to fair and impartial administration of immigration laws and social justice in America.

They form what I call the New Due Process Army!”  And, while mytime on the battlefield is winding down, they are just beginning the fight!  They will keep at it for years, decades, or generations — whatever it takes to force the U.S. immigration judicial system to live up to its promise of guaranteeing fairness and due process for all!

What can you do to get involved now?  The overriding due process need is for competent representation of individuals claiming asylum and/or facing removal from the United States. Currently, there are not nearly enough pro bono lawyers to insure that everyone in Immigration Court gets represented.

And the situation is getting worse.  With the Administrations expansion of so-called expedited removaland “Remain in Mexico,“ lawyers are needed at even earlier points in the process to insure that those with defenses or plausible claims for relief even get into the Immigration Court process, rather than being summarily removed with little, if any, recourse.

Additionally, given the pressure that the Administration exerts through the Department of Justice to movecases quickly through the Immigration Court system with little regard for due process and fundamental fairness, resort to the Article III Courts to require fair proceedings and an unbiased application of the laws becomes even more essential. Litigation in the U.S. District and Appellate Courts has turned out to be effective in forcing systemic change.  However, virtually no unrepresented individual is going to be capable of getting to the Court of Appeals, let alone prevailing on a claim.

. . . .

Finally, as an informed voter and participant in our political process, you can advance the cause of Immigration Court reform and due process. For the last two decades politicians of both parties have largely stood by and watched the unfolding due process disaster in the U.S. Immigration Courts without doing anything about it, and in some cases actually making it worse.

The notion that Immigration Court reform must be part of so-called comprehensive immigration reformis simply wrong. The Immigration Courts can and must be fixed sooner rather than later, regardless of what happens with overall immigration reform. Its time to let your Senators and Representatives know that we need due process reforms in the Immigration Courts as one of our highest national priorities.  

Folks, the U.S Immigration Court system is on the verge of collapse. And, there is every reason to believe that the misguided enforce and detain to the maxpolicies being pursued by this Administration will drive the Immigration Courts over the edge.  When that happens, a large chunk of the entire American justice system and the due process guarantees that make American great and different from most of the rest of the world will go down with it. As the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

In conclusion, I have introduced you to one of Americas largest and most important, yet least understood, court systems:  the United States Immigration Court. I have shared with you that Courts noble due process vision and my view that it is not currently being fulfilled. I have also shared with you my ideas for effective court reform that would achieve the due process vision and how you can become involved in improving the process.

Now is the time to take a stand for fundamental fairness and social justice under law! Join the New Due Process Army and fight for a just future for everyone in America! Due process forever!

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READ THE FULL TEXT OF MY SPEECH HERE:

Existentialism-—-Lawrence

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What is the Scarff Distinguished Professorship at Lawrence University?

The Scarff professorial chair allows Lawrence University to bring to campus distinguished public servants, professional leaders, and scholars to provide broad perspectives on the central issues of the day. Scarff professors teach courses, offer public lectures, and collaborate with students and faculty members in research and scholarship.

Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Scarff created the professorship in 1989, in memory of their son, Stephen, a 1975 Lawrence graduate who died in an automobile accident in 1984. In the photo, the Scarffs are pictured with G. Jonathan Greenwald (center), former United States minister-counselor to the European Union and the 1998-99 Scarff Professor.

Recent Scarff visiting professors have included William Sloane Coffin, Jr., civil rights and peace activist; David Swartz, first U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Belarus in the former Soviet Union; Greenwald; Takakazu Kuriyama, former ambassador of Japan to the United States; Charles Ahlgren, retired diplomat and educator; and George Meyer, former secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Robert Suettinger ’68, Intelligence analyst and China policy expert, and Russ Feingold, former United States Senator from Wisconsin.

Stephen Edward Scarff Visiting Professors, 1989-2018

1989-90

McGeorge Bundy
National security advisor to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson

1990-91

Edgar Fiedler
Assistant security of the treasury for economic policy

1991-92

Jiri Vykoukal
Professor/scholar of East European history at the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in Prague

1992-93

Richard Parker
Ambassador to Lebanon, Algeria, Morocco

1993-94

Donald Leidel
Ambassador to Bahrain/deputy director of management operations for the Department of State

1994-95

Karl Scheld
Senior vice-president/director of research, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

1995-96

William Sloane Coffin, Jr.
Civil rights and peace activist

1997-98

David H. Swartz
Ambassador to the Republic of Belarus

1998-99

G. Jonathan Greenwald
Minister-counselor to the European Union at the U.S. mission in Brussels

2000-01

Takakazu Kuriyama
Ambassador of Japan to the United States

2001-02

Charles Ahlgren
Retired diplomat and educator

2002-04

George Meyer
Former secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

2007-08

Robert Lee Suettinger ’68
Intelligence analyst and China policy expert

2008-09

Robert (Todd) Becker
Former U.S. foreign service officer and deputy head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mission in Croatia.

2009-10

George Wyeth, ‘73
Director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Policy and Program Change Division.

2010-11

Rudolf Perina
Former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova (1998-2001), head of the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade in the mid-1990s and U.S. Special Negotiator for Eurasian Conflicts, 2001-04. Spent 35 years as U.S. foreign service officer, retiring in 2006.

2011-12

Alexander Wilde, ‘62
Senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., former director of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), an independent nongovernmental organization concerned with human rights and U.S. foreign policy.

2012-13

Russ Feingold
Former United States Senator from Wisconsin

2013-14

Alexander Wilde, ’62
Senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., former director of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), an independent nongovernmental organization concerned with human rights and U.S. foreign policy.

2015-16

George Rupp
Former President of the International Rescue Committee, the largest refugee resettlement organization in the world. Before leading the IRC he was president of Columbia and Rice Universities and Dean of the Harvard Divinity School.

2016-17

Christopher Murray, ’75
Most recently served as political advisor to the Supreme Commander of NATO forces. Prior to that he was the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of the Congo.

2017-18

William Baer, ’72 and Nancy Hendry
Baer recently stepped down as Associate Attorney General in the Obama Administration. Previously, he was Assistant Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division. Hendry is senior advisor to the International Association of Women Judges where her focus is on sexual harassment law. They are married and both graduated from Stanford Law School.

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LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY PICTORIAL:

  1. Professor Jason Brozek, Stephen Edward Scarff Professor of International Affairs and Associate Professor of Government
  2. Fox River from overlook next to Briggs Hall
  3. Main Hall
  4. Atrium connecting Youngchild and Steitz (named for Nobel Prize Winning Biochemist and Lawrence Graduate Thomas Steitz) Science Halls
  5. Main Hall
  6. Residence of Lawrence University President Mark Burstein
  7. “Luna” contemplating early admission on the back steps of Main Hall
  8. Locks area across Fox River from campus
  9. Cathy and Luna about to cross the bridge
  10. Historic Fox River Mills Apartments (where our daughter, Anna, lived during her “Supersenior Year” at Lawrence)
  11. Fox River rapids
  12. Lawrence Memorial Chapel
  13. Another view of the Fox River near campus

PWS

04-09-19

PODCAST “REVEALS” DUE PROCESS DISASTER IN IMMIGRATION COURTS, PARTICULARLY FOR TRANSGENDER INDIVIDUALS — Deep Seated Problems Existed — This Administration Made Them Worse!

https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/trans-national-migration/

Trans National Migration

Co-produced with PRX Logo

We examine the record of one of the toughest immigration judges in the country, including the surprising way her decisions benefited transgender asylum-seekers. Then we follow one transgender woman who flees El Salvador for the United States to try to claim asylum.

Our final story takes us to Turkey, and focuses on a small but growing group of refugees seeking a new life: young Afghan women fleeing abuse, forced marriage and persecution in their homeland. Reporter Fariba Nawa tells the story of Hoor, who made the dangerous journey into Turkey alone, only to be assaulted by an Afghan man in Istanbul. Against all odds, Hoor sought justice for her abuser and ultimately prevailed.

Credits

Our first story about an immigration judge who ruled on hundreds of cases involving transgender asylum seekers was reported and produced by Patrick Michels and edited by Brett Myers.

Our second story about a transgender woman who fled El Salvador was reported by Alice Driver. It was produced by Casey Minor with help from Emily Harris and Amy Isackson and was edited by Brett Myers.

Our story about Afghan female migrants was reported and produced by Fariba Nawa and edited by Taki Telonidis.

Our production manager is Najib Aminy. Original score and sound design by Jim Briggs and Fernando Arruda, who had help from Kaitlin Benz and Katherine Rae Mondo.

Support for Reveal is provided by the Reva and David Logan Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the John S. And James L. Knight Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation and the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation.

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Please click the link at the top to listen.

My takeaways:

  • The lack of sensitivity training and proper application of the legal standards for asylum that was allowed to go on for many years in this Immigration Courtroom is appalling;
  • The BIA, whose job is supposed be insuring that individuals’ Due Process rights are respected and asylum law is applied in a fair and impartial manner, failed to do its job;
  • The qualification of individuals for asylum based on gender classifications has been well established since Matter of Tobago-Alfonso, 20 I&N Dec. 819 (BIA 1990) was published (at the direction of then-Attorney General Janet Reno) in 1994;
  • LGBTQ cases were well-documented, credible, and routinely granted by the U.S Immigration Judges at the Arlington Immigration Court during my tenure there;
  • I don’t remember ever denying a transgender case — most were either stipulated or agreed upon by the DHS Office of Chief Counsel — yet EOIR failed to institutionalize those “best practices” that would have promoted justice, consistency, and efficiency;
  • Immigration Judges are bound to follow not only BIA precedents, but also the precedents by the U.S. Circuit Courts in the jurisdiction where they sit — that obviously was not happening here — a clear violation of both law and ethics;
  • You can see the difference when an Immigration Judge does listen, properly applies the law in the generous manner dictated by the Supreme Court in INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca and the BIA in Matter of Mogharrabi, and gives the respondent “the benefit of the doubt” as set forth in the U.N. Handbook on the Refugee Convention;
  • The difference in people’s lives and the benefits to the U.S. when judges properly apply asylum law to protect individuals, as intended, is obvious;
  • Those without lawyers and those held in long-term detention are being treated unfairly and not in accordance with Due Process;
  • This system needs reform so that it operates independently, impartially, and under the legal standards established by law and by Article III Circuit Courts;
  • Immigration Judges who are biased against asylum seekers must be uniformly reversed and “outed” by a real Appellate Tribunal, not the current “go along to get along” version of the BIA;
  • Judges who unwilling to threat asylum applicants and other foreign nationals fairly should not be reappointed to the bench in a competitive, merit-based process;
  • Trump’s recent “we don’t need no stinkin’ judges for asylum cases” rhetoric is as absurd as it is ignorant, unconstitutional, and damaging to both our precious  justice system and vulnerable human beings who need and are legally entitled to our protection.

Many thanks to Lawrence University Scarff Professor of Government Jason Brozek for bringing this highly relevant podcast to my attention.

I am at Lawrence University (my alma mater) in Appleton, WI for two weeks as the Scarff Family Distinguished Visiting Professor. Jason and I currently are teaching a “mini-seminar” in Kasinga/FGM/Gender-Based Asylum in the Government Department at Lawrence. This podcast is directly relevant and “breathes life” into the issues we have been discussing with the wonderfully talented and engaged students in our class.

PWS

04-07-19

 

 

 

GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE: Green Bay, Appleton, Oshkosh Police Chiefs Oppose Trump’s Local Enforcement Initiative!

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/2017/03/02/police-chiefs-oppose-immigration-enforcement-duty/98608450/

“GREEN BAY – Police Chief Andrew Smith has joined 79 other law enforcement leaders around the country in calling to keep local police out of the federal role of immigration enforcement.

Smith, Appleton Police Chief Todd Thomas, and Oshkosh Chief Dean Smith were among those who signed a letter to Congress urging “a constructive immigration enforcement approach that prioritizes criminals and not peaceful residents.” Two top officers in Madison also signed the letter.

It was sent in advance of hearings this week by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on the subject. The letter urges the federal government not to use withholding of grants as leverage to force police to enforce immigration laws.

 

The police chiefs argue that involvement in enforcing immigration laws would hamper their efforts to build community policing relationships and could discourage illegal immigrants who are crime victims or witnesses from cooperating with police.”

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B’Gosh, they “get it” in Oshkosh!

PWS

03/02/17