Well, they finally caught up with me. “They” being the state Education Department (NYSED). All licensed professionals in “The Empire State” come under their purview and as the holder of an LMSW (licensed master social worker) I am one of those folks under said purview.

Back in January of this year, my license was up for renewal, so I got online and filled out the application. There is a question asking if the renewer has been convicted of a crime. I answered "yes" to the question and proceeded to fill out the rest of the application, giving them my credit card number as the grand finale, but just before the process was finished a screen popped up telling me that the renewal of my license would be delayed because of the “yes” answer. They would need further information. (See my blog "Night of the Living Feds" for a full description of the witness and subsequent arrest.)

This was on a Thursday, I think.

Tuesday of the next week my renewed license arrived in the mail and I thought, “Maybe I have a pisan (friend) in the state Education Department.”

Wednesday, Aug. 26, I received a call from an investigator in the professional licensing bureau of NYSED. That's seven months later for those of you keeping track.

Nice guy, too. Very pleasant in a “get down to business” kind of way.

Valor being comprised in large part of discretion, I resisted the great temptation to say, “You do know I've had a valid license to practice for seven months now?”

Now at this point let me clearly say that I do think that a licensed professional who is convicted of a crime needs to be investigated before her/his license is renewed. This is an appropriate safeguard for the public citizens who purchase our services.

The investigator asked about the arrest and crime I was charged with. I told him about the arrest at the Supreme Court for witnessing against torture, that I was kneeling and praying when I was arrested and that basically I was arrested for wearing a T-shirt that government didn't like.

“I was charged with unlawful free speech on Supreme Court grounds,” I told him.

Dead silence.

“Yes, that a real charge,” I said in answer to the silence.

He told me that he would need a letter from me describing the arrest, the crime I was charged with and documentation from the court on the disposition of the case. A team of lawyers would review my case and determine what sanctions, if any, they would levy against me, he informed me.

All the while, I'm thinking, as I social worker I have dedicated my life to protecting the dignity and upholding the rights of the human being; asking my government not to torture them, and grant the sacred right of habeas corpus to them seemed like a natural fit. They can fine me for that?

I set about writing the requested letter and after finishing asked a couple of my spiritual advisors to look at it. My adopted brother (we adopted each other as siblings later in life), Edge Bagg, who is also a social worker, helped me round out my thoughts with a few quotes from the National Association of Social Workers standards of conduct and Code of Ethics.

I have to admit, I do find all this quite amusing, the way empire and the Biblical call for justice rub against one another and exposes the craziness and nonsense of empire. God's humor. Edge and I had a real good laugh over the situation.

Depending on what happens this could get very interesting.

What follows is the letter I wrote on my behalf to NYSED.

Dear Investigator (I've removed the investigator's name):

On Jan. 11, 2008, myself and 90 other people of faith and conscience were arrested at the Supreme Court of the Untied States for a nonviolent witness against our government's use of torture on and the denial of habeas corpus to the prisoners of Guantanamo prison. Forty-five of us were arrested inside the Supreme Court building; I was among that group.

The witness was organized by Witness Against Torture, a group organized by the New York City Catholic Worker House, to shut down Guantanamo and stop torture. You can learn more about the Jan. 11 witness at: www.witnesstorture.org.

When I was arrested I was kneeling and praying next to Fr. William Prichard, a Roman Catholic priest.

There simply was no other choice for me as a Christian and as a social worker but to go to the highest court in our country and ask my government to stop using torture and grant people the sacred right of habeas corpus.

Social workers have the obligation to participate in social and political action to ensure the rights of those who are unable to speak for themselves. Here are the relevant sections of the Code of Ethics for social workers from the National Association of Social Workers (NASW):

The preamble states: Social workers promote social justice and social change with and on behalf of clients. “Clients” is used inclusively to refer to individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. Social workers are sensitive to cultural and ethnic diversity and strive to end discrimination, oppression, poverty, and other forms of social injustice. These activities may be in the form of direct practice, community organizing, supervision, consultation, administration, advocacy, social and political action, policy development and implementation, education, and research and evaluation. Social workers seek to enhance the capacity of people to address their own needs. Social workers also seek to promote the responsiveness of organizations, communities, and other social institutions to individuals’ needs and social problems. The mission of the social work profession is rooted in a set of core values. These core values, embraced by social workers throughout the profession’s history, are the foundation of social work’s unique purpose and perspective:
-- service
-- social justice
-- dignity and worth of the person
-- importance of human relationships
-- integrity
-- competence

This constellation of core values reflects what is unique to the social work profession. Core values, and the principles that flow from them, must be balanced within the context and complexity of the human experience.

Under the section labeled ethical principles, the Code of Ethics defines the ethical principles that fall under the social work core value of Social Justice: Value: Social Justice

Ethical Principle: Social workers challenge social injustice.
Social workers pursue social change, particularly with and on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people. Social workers’ social change efforts are focused primarily on issues of poverty, unemployment, discrimination and other forms of social injustice. These activities seek to promote sensitivity to and knowledge about oppression and cultural and ethnic diversity. Social workers strive to ensure access to needed information, services, and resources; equality of opportunity; and meaningful participation in decision making for all people.

This is also discussed in section 6.04 (a):

6.04 Social and Political Action

(a) Social workers should engage in social and political action that seeks to ensure that all people have equal access to the resources, employment, services, and opportunities they require to meet their basic human needs and to develop fully. Social workers should be aware of the impact of the political arena on practice and should advocate for changes in policy and legislation to improve social conditions in order to meet basic human needs and promote social justice.

We were charged with, “parading, standing, or moving in a procession or assemblage in the Supreme Court Building” and displaying a “device designed or adapted to bring into public notice a party, organization, or movement.” Judge Wendell Gardner translated the charge as “unlawful free speech on Supreme Court grounds” telling us at our bench trial that our “...right to free speech ends at the steps of the Supreme Court.”

I was charged with this “crime” because I was wearing a T-shirt that read, “Stop Torture” and “Shut Down Guantanamo." Other people who were part of the witness that day and were not wearing T-shirts with these slogans had the charges against them dismissed.

Thirty-five of us were tried and 34 of us were convicted of the above charge. All of us received suspended sentences of varying lengths (there was no apparent rhyme or reason as to who received what length sentence), a year's probation and an order to stay away from the Supreme Court for the length of the probationary period.

My probation ended on June 1 of this year and there were no issues with the court for the duration of my probation.

I knelt down in order to stand up for the soul of our nation. My career as a social worker and as a Christian have almost been one and the same: to work to help improve the quality of life for those who cannot speak for themselves, to ensure the dignity of those with developmental disabilities, who are very vulnerable people in our society. Even a cursory look at history shows that when those who are not able or allowed to defend themselves are subjected to maltreatment by the state, the rest of us are not far behind. Nazi Germany did not just one day start executing Jews and other dissidents. They started with people with developmental and mental disabilities and worked their way up to “the rest of us." And it is a Biblical imperative in both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures to stand up for those who cannot defend themselves and demand justice for everyone.

The arrest and conviction were not outside of my specific practice as a social worker, in fact they were because of my participation in a social justice action which is consistent with the Code of Ethics for Social Workers as published by the NASW. The circumstances of the arrest do not include any conduct on my part that might be construed as being a cause for concern in my practice as a social worker.

If I can be any further assistance to you in the matter, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,
Linda LeTendre, LMSW

I'll keep you all posted as further developments materialize. Of course, that may be seven months or so from now.