Union Next to Our Liberty Most Dear: Anatomy of Saxe v State College Area School District and Constance Martin, Righting Wrongs…

Editor: The following article was written by David Saxe who was the litigant in Saxe v. State College Area School District. The case, that was decided by then Judge Samuel Alito of the third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals before he was appointed to the US Supreme Court, was the focus for the controversy discussed in this issue. In the article, David Saxe tells his own story. Although we suppose at least two interests in every court case, when reflecting upon those decisions we dislike, while we know two sides seek to occupy the same space, we often think as if only one side stood before us. The classic case that exemplifies the point is found in the three renderings of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas. We suppose the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's and the American Civil Liberties Union's advocacy of Brown good law, we suppose civil rights a worthy cause and we suppose justice prevailed. But what law was deposed in order for Brown to succeed? What babies of rights were thrown out in the bathwater of supposed bad law? Namely, what was the other side of Brown, the defendants' side? Was Brown really a halleluiah moment celebrating freedoms secured, or does Brown represent the awesome power of the state usurping freedom of all?