{news} Shelton Constitution Day event in New Haven Register

[David Bedell]

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2008/09/18/news/valley/b2-shgreenparty.txt

Constitution focus of Green Party event

Thursday, September 18, 2008 6:51 AM EDT

By Patricia Villers, Register Staff

SHELTON - Reiterating what the Founding Fathers wrote in the Constitution
was the focus of a Constitution Day celebration Green Party members hosted
Wednesday at Constitution Park.

Three candidates for Congress and one who is running for state Senate staged
the event, marking the 221st anniversary of the signing of the U.S.
Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787.

The audience for the event was small: two members of the media.

Each man spoke passionately about what they see are abuses of the
Constitution by elected officials. They all seek to raise awareness of what
they consider the intent of the Founding Fathers who wrote and signed the
Constitution. Richard Duffee of Stamford, a candidate in the 4th District,
said, "There are clauses in the Constitution we have to restore." Regarding
part of Article I, pertaining to the power of Congress to declare war,
Duffee said: Congress "has relinquished its power to President Bush" and
"has failed to reassert itself."

Duffee is a writer and retired lawyer who taught law in South Asia.

Hartford resident Stephen Fournier, who is running for Congress in the 1st
District, said he is a member of Veterans Against the War. He said when
President Bush visited Hartford in April, he and about 200 others couldn't
get within a quarter-mile of the president's car. Fournier, who is a lawyer,
said he is suing the city of Hartford because the city's streets were
barricaded and he and other war protesters were not visible to the
president.

Fournier read from Article I of Connecticut's state constitution that says
"citizens have a right to assemble for redress of grievances," which he said
he was denied.

Mike DeRosa, co-chair of the Connecticut Green Party and a candidate for
state Senate in the 1st District, spoke against the concept of "Real ID"
cards, which he called a "national ID card scheme." He called the idea
"invasive" and said it turns a driver's license into a "surreal ID" that
threatens an individual's freedom. DeRosa is a computer consultant. He lives
in Wethersfield.

Canton resident Harold Burbank, candidate for Congress in the 5th District,
spoke of his opposition to the war in Iraq. He said the United States is
involved in wars of aggression. "I've begun to fear deeply for my children;
they are going to inherit the policy of wars of aggression," he said.

Burbank invited concerned citizens to call members of the Green Party. "Ask
us questions and invite us to public forums. People have every right to
question" their government, he said. "People like me must stand up and voice
their opinions."

Burbank is an international human rights lawyer and native of Kennebunkport,
Maine. He said he once worked for the Bush family.

The event was preceded by a similar celebration at Mortensen Plaza in
Hartford, Burbank said. The candidates distributed copies of the U.S.
Constitution to passers-by.

Patricia Villers can be reached at pvillers@ nhregister.com.