--Thomas Mann

I don't usually pass along e-mail petitions. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, they're inaccurate, out of date, and just plain unhelpful to anyone. I usually just ignore them all, as a matter of policy.

But there's an exception to every rule. The writer of this letter has been a friend of mine for years, going back to when we were both active on the RIMEnet Writers conference, before either of us got on the Internet. And he writes about an issue that's been bothering me, but says it better than I would have.

While, for the most part, I'm not passing this along via e-mail, I decided it was good enough, and important enough, to post here. Those of you will less strict e-mail policies might want to use the cut-and-paste functions in your browsers and mail software. Alternately, you can always just link to here. Either way, the important thing isn't just to pass this on, but rather to sit up, take notice, and do something about the problem.

But I'll shut up now, and let Dale do the talking:

Dear Friends,

A rash of human rights violations is sweeping our nation. We might expect such a thing in some third world country, in China, in Russia, but no. This is happening right here in the land of the free, right out in the open.

Free speech rights, the right of assembly, and due process are being trampled to death in the wake of the Littleton tragedy. In schools across America, students are being suspended, expelled, and even arrested for no reason except the clothes they wear and the conversations they hold. The ACLU is already involved in at least one such case, a case contesting the expulsion of several Ohio students for contributions they made to a Gothic-themed Web site, a site having nothing to do with school and in no way illegal. Students are being encouraged to turn in peers making "inappropriate" comments, be it black humor, analysis of what the attackers did at Columbine, or anything else even vaguely suspect. McCarthyism, it seems, has returned.

Nobody contests that what happened in Littleton has exposed in tragic fashion the serious fractures in our society, but burning the Bill of Rights WILL NOT PREVENT another Littleton, and we all know it. Restricting students' rights of speech, expression, assembly, and due process (rights which the Supreme Court, in Tinker vs. De Moines, 1969, and other cases, stated apply to public school students) will only teach them that the principles upon which this nation are founded are empty words devoid of meaning. What a tragedy this would be, too. Are we so afraid of our own children that we feel compelled to deny them rights we take for granted?

As of today (May 4, 1999), I am aware of thirteen students in Baltimore County, my school district, who have been suspended, expelled, or arrested for the flimsiest of reasons. One, a friend of my daughter, was expelled for wearing a spiked wrist band, an item of jewelry he has been wearing to school for two years but which has suddenly become contraband. Why? Because it is a "weapon." So why are stick pins, pierced earrings, and belt buckles not also "weapons"? The scissors in the teacher's desk would be more dangerous, as the spikes on this wristband are blunt.

Ours is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. It's time we, the people, snapped the reins of power to let our mount know which way it should turn. Those of you who know me well know that playing in partisan politics is against my religious beliefs. This is not about politics, but about fundamental human rights. I therefore urge you all to:

1. Write your local, state, and federal representatives, demanding a stop to this abuse of power. (Addresses can be obtained from your phone book, your local library, or from government Web sites.)

2. Write letters to the editors of your local newspapers.

3. Keep tabs on what is happening in your school district. Be aware of what your school officials are doing in support of or in defiance of students' rights. Quite often, teachers will be sympathetic even when administrators are not.

4. Contact your local ACLU office if you or your children have suffered a rights abuse. The ACLU has a national Web site at http://www.aclu.org/, with links to its state affiliates. (For the record, I am not an ACLU member and this is not a plug for the organization. However, I feel that it is the primary advocacy group with the experience and resources to be of real assistance in combating rights abuses.)

5. Forward this e-mail to your friends, family, and colleagues. Help build momentum in the fight against these violations.

So you know that this was written by a real person with real concerns about what is happening, I'll give you my Web site address. If time permits, Kathy and I may place information about this issue online in the near future (but I can't promise anything, owing to how hectic life is around here at the moment). Visit us at http://www.erols.com/lehket. Thanks for your help.

-- Dale