Last modified: Tuesday, June 1, 2010 11:55 PM EDT

Judge speaks to Lynn students

By Laura Paine / The Daily Item
LYNN - The speaker series at Marshall Middle School,
created by Lynn-based attorney James Carrigan in an
effort to decrease gang activity and crime in the city,
came to a close last week with Honorable Judge Stacey
Fortes-White of Lynn District Court as the speaker.

White spoke to the sixth grade students about the

school's namesake, Justice Thurgood Marshall, and
described him as a brilliant lawyer who won the case of Judge Stacey Fortes-White and Marshall
Brown vs. The Board of Education, which prohibited Middle School sixth grade student Janee
discrimination in public schools. Barber.

She said as a result of learning about Marshall, she went on to college before attending law school and
was the first person to graduate from college in her family. She said if she and Marshall could do it, so
could they.

"Don't let anything stop you from pursuing your dreams," White said.

Carrigan said approximately 20 judges and lawyers from the Lynn Bar Association, District Attorney
Jonathan Blodgett and Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy spoke to more than 1,000 "enthusiastic"
students at 16 different schools. He said students asked thoughtful questions and humourous questions,
including one from the Callahan Elementary School who inquired whether Attorney Webb Primason is
rich.

"By all accounts, it was a wonderful experience for both the speakers and the students," Carrigan said.
"I believe that respect for the 'rule of law' was enhanced by these discussions."