Laura Bauman was a guest columnist for a series of articles promoting “We Are Sarasota” in the Herald-Tribune. “We Are Sarasota” is a multi-media extravaganza that premiered at the Sarasota Opera House on April 30. The program showed how the law, courts, and individual acts of courage shaped who we are, as a society, paving the way for inclusion and diversity in Sarasota today.
In her first article, “A long journey toward freedom,” Laura discusses Sarasota’s journey for inclusion beginning with the 1857 U.S. Supreme Court decision on the Dred Scott case. “What we hope to show in ‘We Are Sarasota’ is that the law and the courts have not always been able to find their way without help, which was needed both inside and outside the judicial system,” said Laura.
In the second article, “Fighting the power of three words,” Laura speaks of the impact “separate but equal” had both in Sarasota and nationally, which was a result of Plessy v. Ferguson. Plessy and the cases that followed it — and in particular the case that eventually overruled it, Brown v. Board of Education — led to the modern civil rights movement. The program hopes to show the progress the movement spurred and the role the law and individual acts of courage had in making this community more diverse and inclusive.
“We Are Sarasota” is a collaboration between the Sarasota County Bar Association’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe and Booker High School. Laura is a member of the Sarasota County Bar Association’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
About Laura Bauman
Laura Bauman is a partner in the Sarasota office of Shutts & Bowen LLP, where she is a member of the Business Litigation Practice Group. Her practice is concentrated in the areas of real estate and construction, with extensive experience in examination of title issues and resolution of claims relating to competing property interests, survey and legal description challenges, extinguishing liens and encumbrances, and resolving construction contract and defect disputes.