A public speaking contest that was open to high school students was recently sponsored by the Battleground Centennial Lodge of the Knights of Pythias. The lodge has 175 members, many of whom live in Jackson, Freehold, Howell and surrounding areas.
The public speaking contest was held at the Hope Lutheran Church, Freehold Township, onMay 3. The topic of discussion was “Resolved: In the United States, plea bargaining undermines the criminal justice system.”
“The top two finishers from the May 3 event will participate in the statewide finals in late May,” said Joseph Spindel, public speaking contest chairman for the Knights of Pythias.
The winner of the public speaking contest was Aman Thakker of Hillsborough High School, Hillsborough. The runner-up was Rohit Purandare of Hopewell Valley Central High School, Pennington.
Jackson resident and Past Grand Lodge representative Steve Caplan said Thakker took a position against plea bargaining.
“Aman said (the accused) should not be allowed to plea to a lesser crime because they are getting away (with a crime),” said Caplan. “Aman brought out that in cases of even murder or rape, (accused individuals) are allowed to plea bargain by testifying against another prisoner and they are given a plea deal to reduce their crime.”
Caplan said Aman’s speech was very polished.
On the other side of the argument, “Rohit said you have to have plea bargaining because you just can’t bring every single case before a judge,” Caplan said. “The judges are overwhelmed and the court system can’t accommodate it. There are just too many cases.”
Jackson resident and Prelate Jerry Fine said the speakers were well prepared and spoke eloquently on the topic at hand. He said the speakers were well received by the audience.
During the same evening, the Pythians held the judging of their regional poster contest which had the topic “Don’t Be a Bully, Be a Friend.”
“We had 16 terrific posters from which our members and their guests submitted ballots for the best three posters,” Spindel said.
First place went to Luz J. Castrillon from Long Branch; second place went to Darcie Wheeler from Spring Lake Heights, and third place went to Carol Sorriano from Aberdeen Township.
All three of the poster winners are students at the Monmouth County Vocational High School in Aberdeen Township.
Spindel said all 16 of the regional posters will go on to the statewide contest.
Caplan said the students showed their ideas about how bullying should be stopped.
“One student showed a handshake between a stronger kid and a weaker kid, while another student showed it with cartoons,” he said. “There were a lot of creative ideas.”
Members of Knights of Pythias Battleground Centennial Lodge perform a variety of charitable work. On one weekend in April, members of the lodge collected more than $1,000 that was donated to the American Cancer Society for research.
The lodge also supports diabetes research, cystic fibrosis research, Deborah Heart and Lung Center and the American Heart Association.
A membership barbeque is planned for June 21. The event will be sponsored by the Windmill, Freehold Township. New members are always welcome. For more information about the Knights of Pythias or the Battleground-Centennial Lodge, call Leon Ben Ezra, 732-462-2367, or Hank Efrom, 732-255-6513.