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IMPEACH JUSTICE DOUGLAS!
PROGRAM SCHEDULE -
10:00 - 10:55 p.m. MDT ACT I: Scene 1: The Life of the Man and the "Wilderness" Mind
ACT I, Scene 2: Behind the Scenes of Brown v. Board of Education
(55 Minutes)
10:55 - 11:05 p.m. MDT INTERMISSION
11:05 - 11:55 p.m. MDT ACT II, Scene 1:The McCarthy Era (50 Minutes)
ACT II, Scene 2: The Vietnam War
(50 Minutes)
11:55 - 12:00 p.m. MDT STRETCH BREAK
12:00 - 1:15 p.m. MDT Panel Discussion and Online Chat Room Discussion (75 Minutes)
1:15 p.m. MDT Adjourn
Featuring Graham Thatcher as Justice William O. Douglas
His passions were protection of the environment, civil rights, freedom of speech and the right of the individual to non-conformity and dissent!
When William O. Douglas retired from the U.S. Supreme Court in 1975, he had served longer than any other justice in its history and had helped to decide some of the most important cases in the history of the nation. Anecdote, humor and painful remembrances are used to explore some of the most explosive issues of William O. Douglas' thirty-six year tenure on the U.S. Supreme Court. Douglas wrestles with balancing what he calls the "wilderness mind" with the often-hostile adversarial conflicts created by his controversial opinions and his active public life. He addresses the issues about which he was most passionate as he reflects on Brown v. Board of Education, the "McCarthy Era" and the Vietnam War. William O. Douglas left a legacy that calls for vigilance to protect human rights and action to protect the earth's environment. The movie explores that legacy, and provokes thought about our responsibilities, not only as lawyers, but also as citizens of the world.
CLE CREDITS: 3 Hours in Ethics/Professionalism and/or General Credit Self Study
Impeach Justice Douglas! features Graham Thatcher in an engaging solo theatrical performance that
uses anecdote, humor and painful remembrances to explore some of the most explosive issues of William
O. Douglas' long tenure on the Supreme Court. Through he wrestles with balancing "wilderness mind" with the often hostile adversarial conflicts created by his controversial opinions and his active public life.
He addresses the issues about which he was most passionate . . . civil rights, freedom of speech,
environmentalism, and the right of the individual to non-conformity and dissent . . . as he reflects on
Brown v. The Board of Education, the "McCarthy Era," and the Vietnam war. Although Douglas' life
spanned the early and middle part of the 20th century, the issues of his day remain major social and legal
concerns of current times.
William O. Douglas left a legacy that calls for vigilance to protect human rights and action to protect the
earth's environment. The movie explores that legacy, provokes thought about our responsibilities as
citizens, not only of the United States, but of the global community,
The movie will be followed by a filmed panel discussion, as well as a Moderated Online Chat Room
Discussion, of the ethical issues and concerns raised in the movie. In the Roundtable Discussion
attendees are asked to focus on the issues demonstrated in the play relating to the ABA Model Rules of
Professional Conduct.
PRODUCER AND PRESENTER INFORMATION
PERIAKTOS PRODUCTIONS, L.L.C. was formed in 1994 with the mission of helping lawyers to
become better lawyers by producing professional theatre performances and movies that provide unique,
entertaining and engaging CLE programs about ethics and professionalism. Our name is derived from "periaktoid," a three-sided scenic unit used in the ancient Greek theatre … that suggests our three primary
goals. First and foremost, we want to entertain, which literally means, "to hold between." Only by
engaging attendees can a "classroom" activity move from a passive experience to one in which true
learning occurs. Secondly, we strive to educate our audiences, which, in the classical sense means "to
draw out." We want to evoke ideas and responses to the issues and situations we present and facilitate
dialogue about them - not instruct or indoctrinate audiences with our own opinions. Lastly, we hope to
enlighten our audiences, which means to "reveal truths." In the broader sense this means helping attendees
to acquire new wisdom and/or understanding of situations to help them see options more clearly.
Playwright Sidney Michaels wrote, "In the dark of the theatre we remember ourselves." Things are not
always what they appear to be and the theatre is a wonderful way to lend a bit of insight and look at
what's below the surface. In the end we hope that our programs provide an opportunity for lawyers to
learn about themselves and explore their own ethical foundations by looking at the lives of others.
GRAHAM THATCHER, who portrays William O. Douglas, is the Artistic Director and primary
performer for Periaktos Productions. Since appearing in his first acting role at five years of age, Graham
has performed in or directed over 150 community, university and professional theatre productions. He is
the co-author and solo performer in Clarence Darrow: Crimes, Causes and the Courtroom, Maxims,
Monarchy and Sir Thomas More and Impeach Justice Douglas!, the live CLE Theatre programs and CLE
movies of the same titles presented by Periaktos Productions. He is the co-author and director of
Thurgood Marshall’s Coming!, also from Periaktos Productions. Graham has authored several other
plays, including A Dickens Christmas and The Mask of the Jaguar, about the cultural clash between the
Maya and Europeans during the Spanish Conquest, and works on commission.
Graham also serves as a workshop facilitator and consultant in communications and is the creator and
facilitator of the Continuing Legal Education programs, “Word of Mouth: A Workshop in the Art and
Ethics of Oral Communication for Lawyers” and “The Art of the Law: A Workshop in Professionalism
for Lawyers,” for law schools and legal associations. He holds a B.A. from San Francisco State
University, an M.A. in Theatre from the University of South Dakota and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the
University of Minnesota. He has been listed in Who's Who in American Education and Outstanding
American Educators and is a recipient of the Governor's Award from the Minnesota Council on Quality.
ANNA MARIE THATCHER is the Managing Producer for Periaktos Productions and is the producer of
all of their CLE Theatre programs and movies. She is an attorney and has worked for thirty years with
artists and visual and performing arts organizations as an arts consultant, producer and director. She is the
co-author, producer and director of Clarence Darrow: Crimes, Causes and the Courtroom, Maxims,
Monarchy and Sir Thomas More and Impeach Justice Douglas!, the live CLE Theatre programs and CLE
movies of the same titles presented by Periaktos Productions. She is the co-author of their live production
and movie version of Thurgood Marshall’s Coming!
Anna Marie is a licensed member of the Minnesota Bar and continues to work with artists and
nonprofit arts organizations. She holds a B.A. from Dakota Wesleyan University (Mitchell, SD), and
M.A. in Theatre from the University of South Dakota, and a J.D. from Hamline University School of Law
(St. Paul, Minnesota). She is a member of the Minnesota Bar Association and ACLEA (Association of
Continuing Legal Education) and is listed in Who's Who in American Law. Anna Marie also serves as
volunteer for the First People's Fund, which provides support for Native American artists and as President
of the Black Hills Playhouse Alumni Association.
Graham and Anna Marie's production of Thurgood Marshall's Coming! received the American
Bar Association's 2005 Silver Gavel Honorable Mention Award in Theatre. They make their home in the
Black Hills of South Dakota.
PANELISTS IN THE DISCUSSION
STEPHEN B. BRIGHT is president and senior counsel of the Southern Center for Human Rights in
Atlanta and is a Visiting Professor of Law at Yale Law School, teaching Advanced Criminal Procedure:
Race and Poverty and a Death Penalty Litigation Seminar. Subjects of his litigation, teaching and writings
include capital punishment, legal representation of poor people accused of crimes, racial discrimination in
the criminal justice system, conditions and practices in prisons and jails, and judicial independence. The
work of the Center and Bright has been the subject of a documentary film, Finding for Life in the Death
Belt, (EM Productions 2005), and two books, Proximity to Death by William McFeely (Norton 1999) and
Finding Life on Death Row by Kayta Lezin (Northeastern University Press 1999). Mr. Bright holds a
B.A. and J.D., from the University of Kentucky. He received the American Bar Association's Thurgood
Marshall Award in 1998. When he is not in the air, the classroom or in court, you can find him at home
in Danville, KY.
REVEREND DAVID T. LINK is a lawyer, educator, dean, and now a Catholic priest who ministers to
inmates at the Indiana State Prison. Reverend Link graduated from Notre Dame Law School in 1961 and
became a senior partner at Winston & Strawn in Chicago. He took a leave of absence in 1970 to return to
the University of Notre Dame, where he had also received his J.D. He became the Joseph A. Matson Dean
and Professor of Law in 1975. He was the Dean at the University of Notre Dame Law School for over 24
years and at the time he took emeritus status, he was the longest serving law dean in the nation. He
served as the President/Vice Chancellor Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame Australia and earned
three honorary doctorate degrees from other universities. He simultaneously served as the founding
Deputy Vice Chancellor and Provost of St. Augustine [University] College of South Africa and was also
the founding Dean of the Law School and the Associate Vice-President for Academic Affairs at the
University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He served as the chair and director of the World Law
Institute, as a director of the Miracle of Nazareth International Foundation, as a director of the Future of
Russia Foundation, on the advisory board of the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars and on numerous
other professional, charitable, civic, and educational boards. He was a co-founder of the South Bend
Center for the Homeless.
Upon his retirement from Notre Dame, David Link served as President and CEO of the
International Centre for Healing and the Law in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He lost his beloved wife, Barbara,
to cancer after a marriage of forty-five years that produced five children and thirteen grandchildren.
When he retired from the International Centre in 2006, he heard the call to priesthood through his work at
Indiana State Prison in Michigan City. He pursued yet another vocation, this time as a Catholic priest,
and was ordained in 2008. At the Indiana State Prison, he currently serves as Chaplain and Deputy
Director of Religious and Community Activity for the Indiana State Department of Corrections, a natural
extension of his prior work in the area of reconciliation and social justice through the Dismas Ministry and the International Centre for Healing and the Law.
Reverend Link continues to be a noted teacher, scholar, and lecturer in the fields of applied ethics,
professional responsibility, professionalism, law practice, and legal education. Among numerous honors,
he was awarded the Young Federal Lawyer and the Secretary of the Treasury Awards for outstanding
service to the United States during the Kennedy Administration. He was selected to receive the American
TABLE OF CONTENTS OF COURSE MATERIALS
I. Producer's Note on Drama and the Law
II. Scene Settings and Music Credits
III. Foreword On William O. Douglas
IV. The Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States
V. A Brief Biography of William O. Douglas
VI. An Overview of the Scenes and Issues Raised in the Movie With Discussion Questions
A. The "Wilderness Mind"
B. Backstage in Brown v. Board of Education
C. The McCarthy Era
D. The Vietnam War
VII. Questions Relating to Bias and Diversity and the "War on Terrorism"
VIII. Resources and Appendix Materials on William O. Douglas and the First Amendment
A. Bibliographies
B. Articles
C. Websites
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