Brown-Ullstrup Performing Arts Foundation

State Bar of Wisconsin: Exceptional journalism that strengthens the public’s understanding of the justice system is recognized by State Bar

Reporters, producers, photojournalists and other professionals from Wisconsin news organizations will receive 2009 Golden Gavel Awards and Certificates of Commendation that recognize the important contributions they made last year to the publics’ understanding of our justice system.

“From Tinker to Starr to Bong Hits for Jesus” by WGTD Public Radio: Dr. Steven Brown, Executive Producer, Host and Writer of WGTD’s “Education Matters” program, and Dr. Howard Bultinck, Co-Host, will receive a Golden Gavel Award for a program that explores a series of court decisions impacting the rights of students to express themselves.

Golden Gavel Awards and Certificates of Commendation provide statewide recognition of photography, published articles, radio and television broadcasts, and websites that relate to the work of the bench, bar, law enforcement agencies, corrections institutions, or to the law itself. Only materials first published, broadcast, posted or otherwise publicly disseminated between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009 were eligible for the 2009 awards. 

The State Bar of Wisconsin is the mandatory professional association, created by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, for attorneys who hold a Wisconsin law license.  With more than 20,000 members, the State Bar aids the courts in improving the administration of justice, provides continuing legal education for its members to help them maintain their expertise, and assists Wisconsin lawyers in carrying out community service initiatives to educate the public about the legal system and the value of lawyers.  For more information, visit www.wisbar.org

An article by Steven M. Brown and Northeastern Illinois University colleague Howard J. Bultinck, “From Black Armbands to Bong Hits for Jesus: The 40th Anniversary of Tinker,” was accepted and published as the cover story of this prestigious monthly educational research, service, and leadership magazine. The article summarized a recent interview with John Tinker and Kenneth Starr by Brown and Bultinck on WGTD Public Radio in Kenosha, Wisconsin where these gentlemen “share[d] their divergent views about limitations on the freedom of speech in schools.”