Justice Rosenburg: Shouldn’t all kids be doing their homework alone?
Justice Fitzgerald: I did. Justice Defazio: I did. Justice Renfro: I did. Justice Suerte: I did. Chief Justice Reynolds: Had help. Justice Cohen: Mom was a teacher. Had help. Justice Rauch: Mom and Dad were lawyers. No help.
(The justices all lean forward to look at Justice Williams, but he just rolls his eyes. The court clock turns white: two minutes left.)
Justice Renfro: So, to be fair to the less fortunate, then, we should abolish homework and expand the school day? (Sadie freezes. The whole courtroom goes silent. All the kids start to panic.) Sadie Warren: No. Justice Renfro: And why not?
(The light on the clock turns red: one minute. Sadie looks at me. It’s really just a glance, but it eats up ten seconds. Then she looks back at the bench.)
Sadie Warren: For the same reason we have come before you today. A child born in the United States in 1900 could expect to live fifty, maybe fifty-five years. That same child born today will likely live to eighty or eighty-five, maybe much longer. This court has always relied on the test of reason for its decisions. I ask you, how is it reasonable that, when we’ve made the human lifespan longer, we’re making childhood shorter? You all had free time when you were kids. Chief Justice Reynolds, you were on the wrestling team in high school. That made you tough – and not just in the ring. Justice Cohen, you reread Pride and Prejudice every year. Not because you had to for a class, but because it was your favourite book. Justice Suerte, you were a Yankees fan. I’ll bet you learned a lot of math just from keeping track of their stats. And if you hadn’t had free time to watch Perry Mason, would you have fallen in love with the law? And you, Justice Rauch, you grew up in Colorado, one of our nation’s most beautiful states. Think about the time you spend outdoors. Wasn’t that a part of your education? Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court, you have the power to make a sea change in the lives of young people today. Give us back our childhoods. Give us the freedom to follow our own interests, to be curious again, to dream, and to have time to spend with our friends, our parents and grandparents, and our little brothers and sisters. Give us, as only you can, the ultimate homework pass: end it for all time.
110
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155
