DeKalb Bar Celebrates Law at Luncheon

This year, the DeKalb Bar Association again partnered with DeKalb County and City of Decatur Schools to celebrate Law Day, a national initiative developed by the American Bar Association (ABA). The 2010 Law Day theme was Law in the 21st Century: Enduring Traditions and Emerging Challenges. To commemorate Law Day each year, members of the DeKalb Bar visit local high schools to make presentations that celebrate our legal system. This year, nine attorneys visited more than 20 classes to commemorate Law Day.

As in years past, the Bar sponsored an essay contest for students in grades 6-8 and a poster contest for students in grades 4-5. We had more than 50 submissions and the winners are listed below. The first place recipients in each category attended the DeKalb Bar luncheon and had an opportunity to discuss their poster/essay with the members of the Bar. The first place essays are printed below.

Poster Winner
Brannen Anthony (5th grade, Dunwoody Elementary, first place)

Essay Winners

6th Grade
First Place: Diamond Witherspoon
Second Place: Madison Dungy

7th Grade
First Place: Gary Williams
Second Place: Donecia Reed
Third Place: Nigel Whitted

8th Grade
First Place: Mariama Konneh
Second Place: Camille Cassar
Third Place: Tatyana Rush
Fourth Place: Marcus McKay

Winning Essays

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The Preventive Laws for the Major Crises of the 21st Century
by Mariama Konneh
(8th grade)

Another marine animal’s life taken before it’s fully given, a child’s dream dies as well as his or her spirit because of unclean water, and a single mother is not able to receive her retirement money because she was laid off from her job. She now has no benefits and is struggling.

What do all of these scenarios have in common? They all have something precious taken away, which can be given back if there were laws to stop/reduce the pollution of oceans, address the Global Clean Water Crisis, and do something about the laying off of citizens over a number of years before they can get retirement pay for the years they have worked.

Pollution of Oceans
The pollution of the oceans is a major problem that faces our world today. Many things that humans need to live day to day are in the globe’s oceans, but cannot be used because of contaminants such as oil, pesticides, and the most deadly plastic, which are poisoning the waters.

That’s why I have created these particular laws to propose for the protection and ending of this destruction. The laws are:

Each middle and high school should have as a part of its curriculum Ocean Clean Up Projects for which grade credit is given. (Clean up projects also include other bodies of water.)

Extra penny sales taxes should be imposed on consumers who purchase beverages in plastic bottles. The income from this tax will then go directly to local, state, federal, and international organizations for the protection of the world’s water supply.

The reason I created these two laws was because of the following horrifying facts about how the dumping of plastics is affecting our life source as well as the life source of the animals that inhabit the oceans and other bodies of water.

Fact #1: 80 percent of marine pollution comes from human based products such as plastics.

Fact #2: Over 2 million plastic bottles are used every five minutes in the U.S.

Fact #3: As little as 10 percent of these bottles are recycled.

Fact #4: Two hundred and thirty-two 16 oz. bottles are used per person a year, which means that 8.8 billion gallons of bottled water are being consumed in the U.S. This number grew to be 173,589,841 bottles being consumed every day and 100,548 bottles being thrown or drained into the earth’s ocean every minute.

Fact #5: High concentrations of plastic materials, particularly plastic bags and bottles, have been found blocking the breathing passages and stomachs of many marine species.

Fact #6: Because of plastics being consumed by marine life, such as fish, harmful toxins from those plastics in the fish are so evident in the bloodstream and tissues of almost every human and other marine animal.

These shocking statistics and facts on how doing something such as throwing plastic bottles near the ocean shore, or letting them get drained into the oceans by sewers can affect you and every other part of life, are the supports on which I build my laws. As you can see the future of the oceans and our futures are at stake if laws like these aren’t implemented.

Global Clean Water Crisis (or GCWC)
The Global Clean Water Crisis is another serious factor facing our world’s health today. It’s claiming the lives of adults and children who barely have started living. But before we go into the facts and laws on how to stop this global crisis, let’s find out what it actually is.

The GCWC refers to over a billion people who live without drinking clean water and face water borne diseases. The lives that are hugely affected by this crisis are children. Here are facts that show how deep this wound of this crisis is in the world and how kids are more susceptible to it.

Fact #1: Nearly 1 billion people lack access to safe water and 25 billion do not have improved sanitation.

Fact #2: 3.5775 million people die each year from water-related disease.

Fact #3: 43 percent of water-related disease deaths are due to diarrhea.

Fact #4: 84 percent of water-related deaths are in children ages 0-14.

Fact #5: 98 percent of water-related deaths occurs mostly in developing countries and a small percentage in some parts of the U.S.

Fact #6: At any given time half of the world’s hospital beds are occupied by patients suffering and even dying from water-related disease.

Fact #7: Every 20 seconds a child dies from a water-related disease.

Fact #8: 1.4 million children die as a result of diarrhea each year.

Fact #9: Every 15 seconds in some countries a child dies from a water-related disease; this equals to four deaths per minute.

The term “Kids are our Future” is a very true statement but how are they going to be when not that many people know what’s killing our children, in the world today? How are kids supposed to move the world when more systems aren’t implemented where kids sometimes even die before they get clean water because they have been drinking unsanitary water? This is water that’s filled with feces and other toxins of animals and humans because that’s the only way they can get replenished. These are the reasons why I have decided to create these laws to help protect who really are our future:

Each school will include a curriculum that deals with the Global Clean Water Crisis, its effects and recommendations on how to correct the problem. This curriculum should be implemented as early as the 4th grade to let kids be aware of what other kids are experiencing throughout the world.

A tax should be imposed on companies that manufacture products and toxins that pollute the world’s oceans, as well as on companies that are responsible for the water systems placed in chosen developing countries, which affects the water for human consumption. ( A “clean up tax.”)

The sad and cruel truths of this life-swallowing epidemic are going on every day. And there are still people who either don’t care but largely don’t know about what’s happening. With these laws I believe that the knowledge of what’s going on as well as sacrificing some of the money that we spend on some frivolous things can help decrease the what seems so overpowering killer of adults and children in developing countries to bring them relief, revival, and replenishment.

Job Layoffs and Retirement
Job layoffs have been happening more and more and even in larger numbers in the U.S. today because of the crisis of the recession. These job layoffs have put many adults and parents but especially single parents lives into jeopardy. The drastic cuts have prevented many citizens from filing for rightly deserved retirement. Why? Because it has caused the income of adults to go down dramatically cutting out many benefits and rights that belong to them. These persons often have the extra burden of having to create or re-create their resumes, go for interviews and some-times even file for unemployment.

These tasks can become very depressing, tedious, and manipulative when it comes to people get-ting hired. One major thing that leads to job lay offs as well as applying for other jobs is age. Many jobs now discriminate heavily against employees over a certain age no matter how many qualifications they may have. Many times it’s not what you know or how long you have known it – it’s who you know. This can be very hard for many adults over the age of 40 to be able to file for retirement, because the people they kept in contact with no longer stay in touch or they’re not able to reach them. Or they do not have the regulated number of years in a particular organization to actually qualify for retirement.

That’s why I have suggested the following rules to deal with one of the three major challenges of the 21st century:

Each state should allow a person to file for retirement after working a certain number of total years regardless of whether or not all years were worked for the same organization.

Each person should be able to keep a certain percentage of their health benefits after working a certain number of years in a particular organization.

As you can see the laws that I am suggesting in this essay can help cut down and even completely destroy over time the issues of pollutions of the oceans, the Global Clean Water Crisis, and the strict rules and regulations of filing for retirement when people are laid off from their jobs. These laws can give more opportunities for education in all these areas. The laws I am suggesting as well as many others can help start to lay the foundation for the prevention of these crises and problems that the people of the 21st century face day to day.

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Law and Equality
by Gary Williams
(7th grade)

Law, what do you think about when you here that word?

Do you think about police men and women who risk their life every day to ensure our well being? Do you think about the multiple house meetings when the state meets with our representatives to make certain important decisions for our futures? Okay, I’m going to be realistic – this isn’t even close to what I think about when I think about the word law. The majority of the time I’m thinking about how the law puts restrictions on us to make sure we stay in check, but after deep thought and a little research I find that laws are really in place for our benefit. They keep us out of a lot of danger and protect us from many issues we might face if we didn’t have them.

They also provide consequences, I mean if you really think about it, if we didn’t have consequences we would not follow laws and if we did not follow laws there would surely be chaos. Although a lot of the laws are not as efficient as we wish they were, they are still laws and must be followed not only to protect us, but others as well. We have the power to change and improve the ones we think are not efficient or don’t give us the same amount of protection as other laws do.

One challenge that we face in the 21st century is law enforcement, which is a major problem in our economic times. There have been so many cuts by the state that protection for our people suffers. There have been many incidents that have occurred due to this problem. Response time is often not as good as it could be. People are making major mistakes because they are over worked and tired. Crime is escalating and more and more people are losing faith in the system.

There are things that have been put in place that have worked and we have made strides toward moving ahead in the 21st century, but in order for us to stay ahead we must not only hold the lawmakers accountable, but ourselves as well. We, the American people, must push for better reforms and greater movements in our government. We must be heard especially so that as individuals and as a people we are taken into consideration when laws are being passed. We must be there sounding out, voting, and participating in the change that is needed to stay ahead. In order to be seen as equals we must make sure that we let our voices be heard when there is injustice. There are times when it seems that the color of your skin dictates the punishment you will receive. We have to make sure all people not just one race, or the wealthy, receive the same justice, because this is our America, our Law.

Equality should mean justice for all. There are so many people behind bars because they weren’t treated equal and there are some people that should be there, but because they have cheated our system they are not. We must stand up for ourselves, and for justice, because if we don’t, no one else will.

My hope for the future, for this 21st century, is that we create, for now, and maintain a law that protects everyone. Law that is well thought out, law that is taken to the people, decided by the people, law that crosses all cultures, and knows no boundaries, because it is fair. I want to know that when times are tough the law is on my side. I want to know that because of who I am, or what I have, and no matter what color my skin is I am protected. I believe that change is happening, I see a future that is mine. I know that if I am doing my part, that my part will be good enough.

I believe in all people and I support my government. I will do my part to ensure that what is fair and right is in place to protect all. I will show up and make sure that I am heard. That is how change can and will take place. I know that the challenges will always be there, but our job is to meet the challenge and do what we can to protect ourselves and others. Law and equality can work and we can make sure that it does. I end by saying look out 21st century, my generation is watching, and listening and taking notes, We are ready to do our part, we are ready to change.

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Law in the 21st Century: Enduring Traditions and Emerging Challenges
by Diamond Witherspoon
(6th grade)

In this essay I will discuss firearms, child abuse, and drugs. I will explain the laws pertaining to firearms, child abuse, and drugs that are commonly broken. Also, laws that are broken but yet go not noticed. It is that it is illegal for people under the age 18 to have possession of a firearm, but many people under this age have either easy access to a weapon. Even though you can have use of firearms for hunting and other recreational activities you must have a license or permit to carry them. I see this as an excuse that people use to own a firearm. To me this law should be enforced more and the law enforcements agencies should be more aggressive. This would certainly impact the crime rate in a positive way.

Secondly, there are the laws concerning drugs that are barely enforced. I understand that people use marijuana for medicinal purposes, but sometimes people abuse this privilege. The easy access to prescription drugs is becoming a major problem. There must be more stringent laws to avoid this negligent behavior. I think that if help to make marijuana plants secretive and for medicine reasons only you can stop or even ban this problem. I also think that if you give a harsher punishment it will help to stop this. Marijuana is not the only substance overused there is crack, meth, etc., and again this should have a harsher punishment for both the user and the supplier.

Finally, child abuse is one of the most important issues to me. This is a very serious matter. To me there should be a harsher punishment because the child is innocence, and defenseless against the adult. The adult is supposed to help, protect, and care for the child. So when this does not happen the law must be the advocate for them. Far too many children are abused every minute, thus having a seriously negative effect on our families, schools, and society.

In conclusion all of these subjects are very serious and have a negative impact on our society. Better laws and more diligent enforcement is the key to a better tomorrow. Punishments must be harsh and swift enough to send a strong message that crime will not be tolerated. It is then and only then will laws emerge and meet the needs of the 21st century.