U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool from U.S. District Court of Western District of Missouri

 

8/07/2021

U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri

c/o U.S. Courthouse

222 N. John Q Hammons Parkway, Room 3100

Springfield, MO  65806

Dear U.S. District Judge Harpool,

My name is Matt Winick from Ann Arbor, Michigan and I have a strong interest in learning history including social justice. In these subjects, I like to learn the need for civil rights to be stronger to reduce discrimination, protect the environment from pollution, have criminal justice reform to help protect people’s rights while reduce crime, and may others. U.S. District Judge Harpool, the main reason I’m writing you a letter is to explain how I find your work when you served as Member of the Missouri House of Representatives from the 134th district and as current U.S. District Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri to be very inspiring to me.

When you served as Member of the Missouri House of Representatives from the 134th district from 1983-1993, I truly appreciated on how you were a strong supporter of civil rights by advocating for people with disabilities’ rights, supporting funds for women including minorities businesses to help them compete in the economy, and working with state legislatures to expand on laws to combat against hate crime to help protect minorities including people who are different. On the economy, I liked on how you support expansion of jobs training programs to help train youth including workers to develop or improve on work skills to help them prepare for the work force and heavily advocate for the need to raise the minimum wage to help assist minimum wage workers afford to live.  Supporting funds for renewable energy resources to help reduce addiction to oil including gas, encouraging businesses including industries to use energy efficient products to help reduce high energy cost while reduce pollution, and working to expand funds to better improve city along with government services to clean parks including water resources to make them safe for people to use is common sense to protect the environment. On education, I liked on how you support funds for improvements of special education to help people with disabilities get accommodations they need to learn and push for better tutoring services to provide students with help on their assignments from tutors.  Another thing that I liked about your work in the Missouri state legislature is how you supported drug treatment programs to help drug users get the care they need to reduce drug abuse and heavily express the need for better ethics reform like a ban on gifts to public officials to reduce corruption. In 2013, I liked on how you accepted President Obama to nominate you to serve in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri to help him improve the judicial system along with criminal justice reform. In your current role as current U.S. District Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, I truly appreciate on how you are a continuous strong supporter of civil rights by advocating for people with disabilities’ rights, pushing for strict sentencing for people who commit hate crimes to help protect minorities including people who are different, and expressing the importance of advancing civil rights to reduce discrimination. Supporting drug treatment programs to help drug users get the care they need to reduce drug abuse and expressing along with supporting the need for better funding to improve DNA testing including forensic science to help solve evidence efficiently while reduce sending an innocent person to jail is common sense for criminal justice reform. Another thing that I like about your work in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri is how you supporting protecting civil liberties from being violated like the fourth amendment to help protect people from unreasonable searches, the 6th amendment to help give the person who is accused of a fair trial while hearing what evidence is against them, and other civil liberties. 

U.S. District Judge Harpool, I have autism with a learning disability. Having a disability is hard for me because I have trouble comprehending on learning different advance subjects, sometimes I struggle to communicate my thoughts, and get teased. Your commitment to be a strong supporter of civil rights including people with disabilities’ rights really inspires me to work hard on my disability.  Your role as former Member of the Missouri House of Representatives from the 134th district and as current U.S. District Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri gives me motivation to continue to learn history including social justice.  My future goal is to someday work in these areas to help emphasize the need for civil rights to be stronger to reduce discrimination, protect the environment from pollution, have criminal justice reform to help protect people’s rights while reduce crime, and may others.

I strongly believe that you are making a great difference for society. I’m very proud on how you are working hard to support civil rights, protect the environment, expand on criminal justice reform, and many others. You have inspire me to work hard on my disability, learn more about your work, and continue to learn different subjects. I was wondering g fi you could share with me what it was like serving in the Missouri state legislature and your role in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Thanks for taking the time to read my letter, working hard to make a great difference, and inspiring me. Please continue to make an impact on society including the judicial system. 

Sincerely,

Matt Winick