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The Shen Prize: The Enduring Constitutional Shield of the Warren Court
By Katelyn Yang, VI Form
The Shen Speech Prize: The Enduring Constitutional Shield of the Warren Court
Editor’s Note: The Shen Prize is awarded to the winner of a public speaking contest among Advanced Placement United States History students on the topic of democracy. The prize is given by Y.L. Shen in honor of his daughters, Ing-ie (Ava) Shen of the Class of 1988 and Ing-Chuan (Judy) Shen of the Class of 1989.
Inscribed on the headstone of former Chief Justice Earl Warren are some of these words that bear a powerful message even today: “Where there is injustice, we should correct it; Where there is neglect, we should provide care; And wherever corrections are achieved, we should add them permanently to our storehouse of treasures.”
We enjoy many rights and freedoms from the Warren Court’s ‘storehouse of treasures.’ This U.S. Supreme Court served from 1953 to 1969 and arguably did more to advance individual rights and liberties than any court before or after. Such rights and liberties are vital to a functioning democracy as they allow citizens to participate fully and effectively. However, they were not always respected by governing majorities.
The Warren Court sought to create a ‘constitutional shield’ against the tyranny of the majority. By striking down discriminatory laws, the Court expanded democracy by extending the Bill of Rights protections to more Americans. By recognizing privacy and voting rights, the Court broadened individual liberties. Moreover, the Court’s accomplishments remind us that when American institutions act with empathy and courage, they can bring the nation closer to a true democracy.
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Shen Prize Winner “Women in World War II: Women’s Army Corps to Second Wave Feminist Movement”
By Cadence Summers, VI Form
Women in World War II: Women’s Army Corps to Second Wave Feminist Movement
Editor’s Note: The Shen Prize is a speech competition for V Formers responding to the prompt: What is a moment of significant expansion or contraction of United States’ democracy? The 2020 recipient of the Shen Prize was Catie Summers.
“For all the girls in the [Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadrons], I think the most concrete moment of happiness came at our first review. Suddenly and for the first time, we felt a part of something larger. Because of our uniforms, which we had earned, we were marching with the men, marching with all the freedom-loving people in the world.” This is an excerpt from the poem At Twilight’s Last Gleaming, written by Cornelia Fort, one of the first woman pilots in the United States.
During World War II, the United States government drafted as many male soldiers as possible. Although thousands were automatically selected, just as many were needed to stay on the homefront to support the war effort through non-combat roles, which prompted the government to replace men in the workforce with women. During wartime, women’s employment rate increased 25%, and over 350,000 women served in the U.S. military. This increase in women’s employment and the diversification of jobs available to them is an expansion of American democracy. American democracy is fluid, ever-changing, and situational. As the country adapts and advances, so too does its democracy. These fluctuations occur in time with shifts in political climates thus the inclusivity and definition of American democracy at a given time correlates to the status of the country at that time. The introduction of the Women’s Army Corps, also known as WAC, during World War II represents an expansion of American Democracy due to the situational requirements of a nation at war. This expansion not only gave women the option to support the war effort by taking on traditionally male roles in the workforce and military, but also for the duration of the war, granted these women access to a society in which their work and contributions outside of the home were as valued as those within it.
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