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| Lauri Fisher and Ted Kenney at BFA Fairfax |
When lawyers are admitted to the bar, when judges are sworn
in and when elected officials take office, they all pledge to uphold the
Constitution. Pledging to uphold the
Constitution is of course easier said than done, as interpretations can
vary. But it remains the foundation for
our government and for our governance among all those who live in the United
States.
The United States has the shortest constitution in the
world, and also the longest living Constitution at nearly 230 years. It has approximately 4,400 words, without
amendments and 7,500 with amendments. Compare this to say, the Affordable Care
Act which clocks in at over 360,000 words and which covers only one thing,
healthcare! Our Constitution was
designed to govern our society in its entirety well into the future, despite
its brevity. The Constitution is our
backbone, and our glue, and is responsible for keeping this diverse nation
functioning since its founding. While interpretations evolve as society
evolves, it is the genius in the checks and balances system created therein
that insures freedom, justice, thoughtfulness and equality within our society.
Constitution Day is typically celebrated on September 17th
each year to honor the signing of the document on September 17, 1787. What is less known is that it could as well
be celebrated on November 26th, as George Washington established the
first national Thanksgiving Day on November 26, 1789 to give thanks for the new
Constitution! Perhaps this Thanksgiving
families should include the Constitution among the things they recite as being
thankful for as the topic is passed around the dinner table. Here at the VBA, while we celebrated
Constitution Day with an open-to-public presentation by judges on September 21,
2016, we have continued the celebration right through and will continue to
honor it in the weeks and months to come.
As part of our Constitution education initiative, the VBA
has been handing out pocket constitutions to members who are willing to go to
schools, towns or service clubs and give educational presentations about the
constitution. Since September we have
given out approximately 2,500 constitutions and have ordered 2,500 more. The VBA has also provided suggested
presentation outlines and materials to those wishing to volunteer. Here are highlights from some of our members:
· Caroline Earle spoke at the Barre Rotary and
received very positive feedback.
Rotarians found it to be ‘incredibly interesting’ and remarked that they
would have listened to the presentation for another hour! They enjoyed the
pre-election refresher on the balance of powers and their pocket constitutions.
· Lauri Fisher and Ted Kenney gave three presentations to 7th,
8th, 10th and 11th graders at BFA Fairfax,
reaching nearly 200 students. The students were extremely excited and asked a
ton of questions. The teachers asked
them to come back in January!
· Adrian Otterman presented at the Cornerstone
Kids Homeschool Coop which consists of 60 homeschooled kids age K-12. He gave a
short presentation on the Constitution and discussed the Bill of Rights. He
discussed the Framers idea of limited government and the checks and balances
provided by our 3 branches, encouraging them to read the entire constitution as
he believed they liked the presentation.
· Lisa Chalidze recounted administering tests to college freshmen
where they either watch a Youtube video (typically 1-2 minutes) of, for
example, a police shooting, or a controversial protest, or read parts of a
court opinion, then take the factual scenario apart almost moment by moment to
analyze with reference to the relevant Amendment (Fourth, First, etc.). She can
now freeze a video at any point and ask the class: "What amendment are we
talking about here?" and they shout out the answer: “Fourth!” or whatever
as the case may be.
Lisa reiterates that she asks each
student to write their name in the Constitution and emphasizes: this is
"your Constitution", both literally and figuratively. She has
distributed 45 copies over the last few months to undergraduates, as well as
another 40 or so to students at Rutland High School where she was assisting
with a mock trial held at the US District Court in Rutland.
· Will Baker met with about 18 fifth and sixth
graders at Doty Memorial School in Worcester, and handed out
Constitutions. They had a fun and interesting discussion focused more on
the bill of rights than the Articles or three branches, which is pretty complex
for the age group.
· Mark Sciarrotta and Jennifer Emens-Butler spoke both
to the Orchard Valley Waldorf School 8th graders and the Whitcomb
High School 9th graders with a discussion focused on the Amendments and
the Judicial branch after the Constitution basics were discussed. At OVWS, there was a lengthy discussion of
T-Shirt cases and the First Amendment regarding dress codes. The WHS students demonstrated some profound
misunderstanding of constitutional protections, so the discussion focused on
the First, Second and Fourth Amendments after sharing some basic information
regarding laws and the three branches of government generally.
· Teri Corsones presented to three Social Studies
and U.S. History classes at Rutland High School, using a map of the original 13
Colonies (Vermont being noticeably absent!), a map of Vermont to show the
importance of the Green Mountain Boys, especially regarding Fort Ticonderoga,
Hubbardton and Bennington. She also passed around volumes of Vermont Statutes
Annotated to give examples of what the legislative branch does, and volumes of
Vermont Reports to show what the judicial branch does. Lastly, she quizzed the
students from the U.S. Naturalization Test, to see what of the many questions
about the Constitution in that test they could answer after the presentation.
Constitution
Day/Week/Month/Year/Decade… will continue as pocket Constitution recipients,
Jaime Heins, Meghan Purvee, Timothy Eustace and Emily Wetherell, among others,
prepare for their scheduled presentations.
With heightened media coverage over the election season on Constitutional
topics such as not convening a hearing for Merrick Garland, the wisdom or
usefulness of the electoral college design and the proper distinction between
what can be accomplished through executive versus legislative powers, there is
no better time to help fulfill our duty to uphold the Constitution by sharing
its wisdom!
Contact
the VBA today to pick up some pocket constitutions for distribution and please volunteer
to discuss the role of the Constitution in our society in a school or service
club near you!
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