nal law, family law, environmental law, civ- il law, constitutional law, and international law, while also providing time for Vermont- ers to engage in the direct diplomacy that people-to-people exchanges promote. Christine Plunkett, Vice President of Fi- at Burlington
nances College explains
that “the vision for this program is to pro- vide Vermont attorneys and judges with a unique opportunity to earn CLEs while at the same time acting as citizen ambassa- dors and providing an avenue for the ex- change of information and ideas between legal professionals on both sides of the Florida straits.” As an Vermont Law School graduate, lo- cal attorney and a member off the Burl- ington College faculty who is working on this CLE program, I see this as both a vi- tal part of growing Vermont’s internation- al relationships but also as a way of giving Vermonters an opportunity to connect with their peers in a country the Federal Gov- ernment has held as off limits for so many years. Having litigated the constitutional challenge to the U.S. Treasury Department regulations that prevented Cuban-Ameri- cans from visiting their families in Cuba,3
I
know that Cuba has been a place of great mystery to Americans and a place that, in my experience, is unique in the world. The fact that Vermont is able to lead the way and that Burlington College and the Ver- mont Bar Association can offer attorneys the chance to engage and share informa- tion and ideas is, in my view, not only ex- citing but a true testament to our constitu- tional ideals.
Vermont Has a History of Cuban Engagement
While it may seem odd that Vermont, with so few Latin Americans (let alone Cubans) would be such a leader when it comes to Cuba, our small state has a histo- ry of engagement and dialog. From former Lt. Governor Brian Dubie’s efforts to bring Vermont dairy cows to Cuba to the recent travels of a Vermont Little League team that went to Cuba to play baseball with Cu- ban youth, Vermonters have always looked toward engagement as a way to solve problems. As law is the framework that structures society, it simply makes sense that Vermont lawyers have the chance to share and engage with their counterparts in Cuba. As Sandy Baird, an attorney, pro- fessor at Burlington College and the Di- rector of the College’s undergraduate se- mester-abroad program with the Universi- ty of Havana explains “for many years, the laws and regulations of the Cuban embar- go have prevented the sort of engagement that I believe helps build relationships.” As it turns out, when it comes to Cuba, Vermonters are far more in-sync with the
24
rest of the globe than even our own Fed- eral Government. Just recently, in Decem- ber of 2011, a United Nations vote was held on the Cuban embargo. For the twen- ty-first year in a row, the member states of the United Nations voted overwhelming to support a resolution condemning the em- bargo. By a vote of 186-2, the United Na- tions voted against an embargo that has costs billions of dollars to the global econ- omy and has had a significant impact on the legal rights and privileges of American and Cuban citizens. To be sure, it will take an act of the federal government to elimi- nate the Cuban embargo. As lawyers we know that communication is key and that often times, legal conflicts can best be solved when the parties are able to com- municate openly. Whether it is dairy cows or CLE courses, Vermonters can continue to lead the nation and once again demon-
THE VERMONT BAR JOURNAL • WINTER 2012
strate to the country and the world that the best way to solve problems is to engage and to talk through our differences. More information about the Burling-
ton College CLE program can be found at
www.burlington.edu, or by emailing
jcarter@burlington.edu. ____________________ Jared Carter, Esq., is an instructor at Bur- lington College, where he teaches Legal Research and Writing, Constitutional Law, and political science courses. He is a 2009 graduate of Vermont Law School and cur- rently lives in Burlington with his wife, Yuris.
____________________ 1
Id. Zemel v. Rusk, 381 U.S. 1 (1965). 2 Vilaseca v. Paulson, Civil Action No. 2:08-
CV-53, U.S. District Court (D. Vt.). 3
www.vtbar.org
Vermont and Cuba
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