Washington Post; Washington, D.C.; March 21, 2004
By Linda R. Monk
The Supreme Court will hear oral argument this week on one of the more explosive questions before it: Whether public school teachers can lead students in the Pledge of Allegiance to a nation “under God.”
Chicago Tribune; Chicago, Ill.; February 17, 2003
By Linda R. Monk
In February our nation celebrates both African-American history month and the birthdays of the two presidents who most shaped the Constitution’s legacy on slavery. George Washington presided over the convention that created the Constitution’s initial compromise with slavery, and Abraham Lincoln — although reluctantly at first — realized that compromise was no longer possible.
Chicago Tribune; Chicago, Ill.; March 28, 2002
By Linda R. Monk
It’s Women’s History Month, but feminists can’t seem to get in a good word edgewise. I guess I’m part of the problem. In more than two decades as an active civil libertarian, I never contributed to a group solely focused on women’s rights until last fall. And then my dollars went to a group of Afghani women. Which is odd, because as an American woman I’ve certainly benefited from the increased educational and vocational options made possible by the women’s movement.
The Los Angeles Times; Los Angeles, Calif.; March 21, 2002
By Linda R. Monk
Karl Rove, President Bush’s chief political advisor, and Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) have called the Senate Judiciary Committee’s defeat of Judge Charles W. Pickering for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals a lynching.
Chicago Tribune; Chicago, Ill.; Feb. 25, 2002
By Linda R. Monk
It’s terrorism central here in Alexandria, Va. The small town’s detention center is now home to both Zacarias Moussaoui, the French citizen and potential 20th hijacker accused of conspiring to kill Americans in the Sept. 11 attacks, and John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban charged with conspiring to kill Americans in Afghanistan. I’ll admit to being a little extra scared when I drive by the jail, a high-rise red brick building just a couple of miles from my home.
Philadelphia Inquirer; Philadelphia, Pa.; Oct. 14, 2001
By Linda R. Monk
So it begins again. That age-old struggle between liberty and security has never really left us, but in peace the stakes are lower. Now we ask anew the same questions previous generations have answered: How much freedom can we survive? My husband works at the Pentagon, so the question is not hypothetical for me.
American Perspectives Writing Competition Winner
July 4, 2000
By Linda R. Monk
When I was twelve years old, I was a hateful and cruel little girl. I ‘m still not sure why. In particular, I made life miserable for a new girl in my school — Sandra. I criticized the way she looked, the way she talked, the way she combed her hair. I was determined to prove her inferior to me in a multitude of ways. I needed her to be inferior to me. She was black, I was white.
New York Times; New York, N.Y.; Oct 23, 2000
By Linda R. Monk
I was one of those paranoid Americans who chose not to answer all questions on the long form of the 2000 census. My husband and I decided that the government did not need to know, or had other ways of finding out, what time we left for work, how much our mortgage payment was or the amount of our income that came from wages. We were willing to risk the $100 fine to take a stand for individual privacy in an increasingly nosy and automated age.
Chicago Tribune; Chicago, Ill.; May 6, 1999
By Linda R. Monk
Another springtime mass murder, another ritual invocation of the 2nd Amendment. The problem is, few conservatives or liberals really understand what it means. “The right of the people to keep and bear arms,” as specified in the 2nd Amendment, is not so simple as limiting firearms solely to the National Guard, which liberals might choose, or allowing unlimited ownership of guns, as some conservatives would prefer.
Chicago Tribune; Chicago, Ill.; Feb. 10, 1999
By Linda R. Monk
The one sure outcome of the impeachment trial is that the rule of law has been shot to hell, as much by Republicans as by Democrats. And, to the chagrin of many of his constituents, Rep. Henry Hyde has become its chief executioner. According to a recent poll by the Chicago Tribune, 35 percent of the respondents said their opinion of the congressman had dropped because of his handling of the impeachment proceedings—this in a staunchly Republican district.
Chicago Tribune; Chicago, Ill.; Sept. 4, 1997
By Linda R. Monk
New clothes on the first day of school. A sense of hope and fresh beginnings. This is the schoolchild’s timeless ritual, accompanied by the blessings of anxious parents.
Chicago Tribune; Chicago, Ill.; July 4, 1994
By Linda R. Monk
Everybody knows the Fourth of July story. Thomas Jefferson and company gathered in Philadelphia in 1776 to declare America’s independence from Great Britain. Thanks to George Washington, the colonies won the Revolutionary War and a new nation was born. Or so the story goes.
The Washington Post; Washington, D.C.; Feb. 7, 1993
By Linda R. Monk
Lucy Stone wouldn’t have believed it. Or maybe she would. Almost 140 years after she outraged a nation - years in which women have won the vote, fairer pay and greater autonomy over their own bodies - many Americans are still unsettled when a prominent woman retains some version of her own surname after marriage.