Retired teacher celebrates 100th birthday

Helen Cataldo Carberry celebrated her 100^th birthday with friends, relatives and former students in her home on Sunday. A 1927 graduate of Franklin High, Mrs. Carberry taught 5^th grade in the Franklin School system from 1932 through 1973. She taught at the Horace Mann School which was housed on Emmons Street where the old town hall sits.

Mrs. Carberry and her family shared stories, photographs, and mementos from her days as a teacher in the system. She also displayed the accolades she has received from federal, state and local officials.

Ellen McGrath from the Franklin Alumni Association offered remarks about Mrs. Carberry’s tenure in the Franklin Schools, along with facts from the year of her birth (1909) and the list of classmates from the FHS class of 1927.

Meeting people like Mrs. Carberry is one of the fun parts of the job of serving on the School Committee. She shares the commitment to public education and brings energy and enthusiasm to the mission.

Happy 100^th Mrs. Carberry!

You can read more about Mrs. Carberry in the Milford Daily News by clicking here.

Letter questions emotional statements about election

This interesting and insightful letter to the editor appeared in the November 13, 2009 edition of the Franklin Country Gazette. I have never met the author of the letter, but thought he captured the spirit of many of us who are involved in Franklin government. I have included it in this space — in full and unedited — because it conveys a powerful message and delivers words that must be heeded.

View this document on Scribd

Anonymous posters must be revealed in defamation cases

As an active participant in government affairs, I have seen my share of anonymous blogs and online reader comments under newspaper articles. At times, they can be quite unflattering to put it mildly. There is no question that many of the comments are robust and shed sunlight on issues of the day. But sometimes the comments cross the line and are defamatory. Back in July, I expressed concern about the increase in the use of these anonymous postings on newspaper and other blogs (click here to read that post). An Illinois court decision from last week urged me to explore this topic further.

On November 9, an Illinois judge issued an order to a newspaper compelling it to disclose an unknown individual using the pseudonym “Hip check 16″ who made a posting on the Daily Herald website which defamed a Buffalo Grove Village Trustee’s minor son. You can read the story of that case by clicking here. In the ruling, the court noted that the right to speak anonymously, on the internet or otherwise, is not absolute and does not protect speech that would otherwise be unprotected. The right to speak must be balanced against the right of an offended party to seek redress.

There is no doubt that speech on the internet receives First Amendment protection and that includes protection for anonymous speech. The United States Supreme Court reaffirmed that right in Buckley v. Am. Constitutional Law Found., 525 U.S. 182, 199 (1999). In that case, the Court also recognized the Internet as a valuable forum for robust exchange and debate. The opinion goes on to say that through the use of online devices “any person with a phone line can become a town crier with a voice that resonates farther than it could from any soapbox. Courts also recognize that anonymity is a particularly important component of Internet speech. Internet anonymity facilitates the rich, diverse, and far ranging exchange of ideas; the constitutional rights of Internet users, including the First Amendment right to speak anonymously, must be carefully safeguarded.”

At the same time, however, there is no right to freely defame others. As with most freedoms, we must heed to the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes who said: “The right to swing my fist ends where the other man’s nose begins.” And that’s what we must consider when balancing the rights of anonymous posters with the right of others to protect their good names.

Here is a look at some other cases which have cropped up around the country on this issue:

A Tennessee state court ruled in October Donald and Terry Keller Swartz are entitled to discover the identity of the anonymous blogger behind the Stop Swartz blog who published critical statements about them and encouraged readers to post information on their whereabouts and activities. In his decision, Judge Thomas W. Brothers adopted a legal standard highly protective of anonymous online speech, but found that the Swartzes had come forward with sufficient evidence in support of their claims of wrongdoing to outweigh the anonymous blogger’s right to anonymity. This video clip of the actual court hearing in that case gives you a firsthand look at the legal issues presented. Click here to view it.

In Doe I v. Individuals, 561 F. Supp. 2d 249, 254-56 (D. Conn. 2008), female students at Yale Law School sued unknown individuals using thirty-nine different pseudonymous names to post on a law school admissions website named AutoAdmit.com. A number of anonymous posts contained threatening and derogatory comments about minority groups, sexuality, and incitement of criminal activity. In that case, the court ordered the web provider to disclose the blogger’s identity and noted that the plaintiff had shown sufficient evidence supporting a prima facie case for libel, and thus the balancing test of the plaintiff’s interest in pursuing discovery in this case outweighed the defendant’s First Amendment right to speak anonymously.

For further reading, and to see how other courts have ruled on these issues (both for and against disclosure), click the links to the following decisions: Solers, Inc. v. Doe, 977 A.2d 941, 954-57 (D.C. 2009); Sinclair v. TubeSockTedD, 2009 WL 320408, at *2 (D.D.C. Feb. 10, 2009); Krinsky v. Doe 6, 159 Cal.App. 4th 1154 (Cal. Ct. App. 2008);); Quixtar Inc. v. Signature Mgmt. Team, LLC, 566 F. Supp.2d 1205, 1216 (D. Nev. 2008); Mobilisa v. Doe, 170 P.3d 712, 720-21 (Ariz. Ct. App. 2007); Greenbaum v. Google, 845 N.Y.S.2d 695, 698-99 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2007); In re Does 1-10, ;”>242 S.W.3d 805, 822-23 (Tex. Ct. App. 2007); McMann v. Doe, 460 F. Supp.2d 259, 268 (D. Mass. 2006); Highfields Capital Mgmt. v. Doe, 385 F. Supp.2d 969, 975-76 (N.D. Cal. 2005);  Doe v. Cahill, 884 A.2d 451 (Del. 2005). Best Western Int’l v. Doe, 2006 WL 2091695, at * (D. Ariz. 2006); Reunion Indus. v. Doe, 2007 WL 1453491 (Penn. Ct. Comm. Pleas Mar. 5, 2007).

The bottom line is robust dialog is always welcome. But defamatory speech is not. It is good to see that the courts are willing to open the doors to the anonymous world when speech crosses the line. That should serve as notice to posters that they should consider the legal, moral and ethical components of their comments. And they should be careful with their facts. Because if they are not, the courts will offer assistance to those who seek redress.

Governor visits Franklin’s Jefferson School

It was both refreshing and energizing. Governor Deval Patrick traveled to Franklin yesterday to spend time with the students and staff at Jefferson Elementary School and enlivened the day.

The visit gave the Governor a firsthand account of education spending in action.

The visit was coordinated by Representative James Vallee. “I wanted to bring the governor here to show him just how much funding affects our district,” Vallee said. “Quite frankly, I’m concerned about the future and I want to show the governor and community that we are 100 percent committed to maintaining education funding.”

Complete newspaper coverage of the visit can be viewed by clicking here. As noted in the story, during his visit, Gov. Patrick stressed the importance of education funding through tough budget times. “We have protected funding for public schools,” Patrick said. “That is about the kids and the value we place on them.”

Also during the visit, the Governor participated in Mr. Goguen’s history class using SMARTBoard technology. “The purpose of this technology is to reinforce what I am teaching,” Goguen said.

Following the classroom visit, Gov. Patrick dined with elementary students in the cafeteria.

It was certainly encouraging to have the Governor see our schools and engage with our students. The education of our young is one of the great hallmarks of our community, and the visit highlighted the support we receive in this effort from our state officials in this effort.