The events that catch headlines come and go so quickly, we often don't have time to process, discuss and reflect upon their impact and historical context. The Wisconsin Humanities Council's (WHC) discussion series, "A More Perfect Union," is designed to address this challenge.

The newest "A More Perfect Union" discussion kit includes four books and one film that together provoke participants to consider the meaning of justice. How do we define justice as a nation? As individuals? What did the Founding Fathers mean when they wrote that government should "establish Justice?" How have the many struggles against injustice, and for justice, shaped our nation's history? When and how do we choose to stand up against injustice in our lives?

The books included in the "A More Perfect Union: To Establish Justice" program include A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr, Bombingham by Anthony Grooms, Sex Wars by Marge Piercy, and For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire by James Yee and Aimee Molloy.

In addition to the four written works, the WHC is proud to partner with Wisconsin Public Television this year to offer a film as part of the discussion kit. The documentary, "Red Hook Justice," introduces participants to lawyers, judges and criminals who are testing a new approach to the judicial process and further expands the "A More Perfect Union" conversation about the promise and problems of the ever-elusive ideal of "justice for all."

The "A More Perfect Union" discussion kits are available, free of charge, from the WHC. "To Establish Justice" is the third discussion kit offered as part of the WHC's "A More Perfect Union" program. The first set of "A More Perfect Union" books gives readers the opportunity to discuss the nature of politics, the political system and its players, and our revolutionary form of participatory democracy. The second set, "The Common Defense," explores some of the ways the U.S. has chosen to defend its national interests in the past two and a half centuries.

Join the conversation!

The WHC discussion programs provide space for collective reflection and conversation, rooted in the humanities, and inspire and strengthen communities of all kinds. Historical societies, libraries, retirement centers, religious groups, civic organizations and other ad hoc groups are welcome to borrow books and host discussion groups.

Applications to borrow discussion kits can be found on the WHC Web site. The free kits include 15 copies of each of the four titles, a VHS copy of the documentary film "Red Hook Justice," brochures to attract participants and discussion guides with provocative questions about the books. Groups may also receive money to pay scholars to lead discussions. Contact Jessica Becker at the WHC for more information: 608-262-0706.

The Wisconsin Humanities Council is the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Since 1972, the WHC has served the people of Wisconsin through both a grant program and humanities projects of its own. Its mission is to create opportunities for all the people of Wisconsin to engage in critical exploration of the histories, arts, ideas and values of their own and other communities.

The books and film for discussion

A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr

Can lawsuits uncover the truth? What happens when the power and resources of the parties at odds are disproportionate? Harr's compelling, true story recounts the case constructed by a young personal injury lawyer on behalf of working class families of Woburn, Mass. It takes the reader into the homes and hospitals where children died of leukemia, allegedly caused by the chemical waste of two major corporations. From behind-the-scenes negotiations in hotels and back rooms, to courtroom proceedings shaped by the peculiarities of the U.S. legal system, Harr's suspenseful storytelling and eccentric characters reveal the messy, human way that justice is wrought.

Bombingham by Anthony Grooms

Bombingham begins as a deceptively simple coming-of-age story, but ultimately explores a rich tapestry of profound ethical and moral questions. While writing home to the parents of his friend, killed in Vietnam, Walter's mind returns to the explosions of his childhood in 1960s Birmingham. In the center of the nation's civil rights movement, young Walter and his sister were drawn into demonstrations with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and acts of civil disobedience. Simultaneously, they discovered a world beyond their parents' control. While they marched, tragedy unfolded at home, underscoring the implications that the tumultuous era had for the nation and the American family. The book powerfully explores questions of justice, and of life and death, and whether such matters are truly in the hands of the individual or a matter of fate.

Sex Wars: A Novel of the Turbulent Post-Civil War Period by Marge Piercy

From an impoverished family of con artists, Victoria Woodhull uses her fierce intelligence and determination to become many things that were unheard of in 1860s New York: a successful stockbroker, an advocate for women's rights, and a candidate for the U.S. presidency. The flamboyant free-love proponent seeks out women's suffrage leaders Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony as she strives to shape her personal struggle for freedom into a broader political platform on behalf of all women. Meanwhile, Victorian reformer Anthony Comstock comes to national attention in a personal crusade against the corruption of society by pornography, birth control and abortionists. Based on historical figures, Piercy brings to life the laws, conflicting beliefs, and social customs that first provoked women in the U.S. to organize for change.

For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire by James Yee and Aimee Molloy

On September 11, 2001, James Yee was one of a very few Muslim chaplains in the U.S. Army. As the nation sought to understand the 9/11 terrorist attacks, his superiors asked Yee to serve as a spokesperson for Islam to his fellow servicemen and the media. After the military established a prison for detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Yee was assigned to serve its Muslim residents—both prisoners and U.S. military personnel. Returning home on leave, the military arrested Chaplain Yee and held him for 76 days in solitary confinement. No official charges were brought against him, but accusations of spying and aiding the enemy were leaked to the press. This personal account, from a first-generation American who grew up loving his country, attending West Point Military Academy, devoting years to military service, and then finding himself imprisoned and slandered for that service, is more than an individual story of injustice. Yee's account challenges readers to ask how we, as a nation, behave toward citizens and non-citizens alike in times of war and insecurity.

Red Hook Justice, a film by Meema Spadola

Can a different philosophical approach to justice reduce crime and heal a troubled neighborhood? This one-hour documentary goes behind the scenes of the Red Hook Community Justice Center, opened in 2000 in Brooklyn, New York, under the watchful eye of the Department of Justice. The Justice Center has been an ambitious legal experiment in giving neighborhood residents improved access to justice, in tandem with appropriate social services, while building trust in the legal system. The film provides a realistic picture of the frustrations, failures and successes of community justice in action, and invites reflection on where theory and reality diverge in this attempt to make the dispensing of justice more just.