READ THIS!

After dinner at Litchfield Castle, we will have a presentation of a legal case currently before the Court of Appeals of New York State. The case involves the right to canoe down a small stream that passes through the private estate known as Brandreth Park (which is near Long Lake.) Dennis Phillips has represented the Brandreth side, and he will be conducting a kind of mock trial, with Hamilton alum Eric Schwenker (who now works as a law clerk for a judge on the Appeals Court, I believe, and used to work for Dennis). Dennis has asked that we familiarize ourselves as much as possible with the case. I can tell you that it is a really interesting one, representing the conflict between private and public interests in a nuanced and complex way.

This is the first article Dennis would like you to read:
http://www.adirondackexplorer.org/stories/testing-the-legal-waters

Be sure to check out the maps in the article as well. You should also look up what you can find on Brandreth Park in our texts. I have an entire book on the park by Hamilton Emeritus Professor of Geology Donald Potter (who is part of the Brandreth family, and thus part owner of the Park), if anybody is interested...

There are lots of other articles on the Adirondack Explorer website about this case. You should note the fact that Phil Brown, the editor of the Explorer, is the defendant in the case! He deliberately paddled the route in order to provoke the lawsuit, as you'll see. Here's a link to other stories on this legal case, which has been ongoing for the past 5 years.
http://www.adirondackexplorer.org/legaldefensefund

Onno