New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Clinton, Moodus students earn scholarships
MIDDLETOWN — The Middlesex County Bar Association recently awarded a total of $3,000 in funding to two Middlesex County high school students whose essays on “Advancing the Rule of
Law Now” were among the top submissions.
“Their academic achievement, service to community and school, monetary need, and the quality of their essays ... recommended them for their awards,” Attorney Richard F. Paladino of Old Saybrook, chairman of the scholarship committee, said in a prepared statement.
This year, Attorney Helen B. Bennet, Bar Association president, spearheaded the 110-member plus association’s effort to continue its tradition of awarding scholarships, not withstanding the challenges of the COVID pandemic, according to a news release.
Awards were presented via Zoom May 6, due to the pandemic.
The winners are Emma Lindsay, a student at The Morgan School in Clinton, and Mya Darrow, a student at Nathan Hale-Ray High School in Moodus.
In her application, Lindsay
wrote of her concern for “wrongfully convicted or wrongfully acquitted” Americans and the need for “educated and responsible defenders” of justice for those individuals and defenseless children. She plans to become a practicing attorney and then become a law professor to teach of her experiences, the press release said.
Darrow wrote that “one’s race and one’s wealth and status” should not determine equal punishment and justice. She emphasized “those of color are being targeted” and these “inherent problems in the justice system” should be corrected. She plans to get a master’s degree to pursue a career in engineering, the release said.
Judge Vernon Oliver, administrative judge of the Middlesex Judicial District, introduced and presented the scholarship awards to Lindsay and Darrow. In addressing the Law Day theme, he emphasized that the “rule of law needs to continue to be advanced now, and as evidenced by contemporary events,” saying “no one of us is above the law,” according to the release.
The association has awarded scholarships since 2008.