On September 17, students and professors celebrated the 220th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution with cake and reflections on how that venerable document affects their everyday lives.

Robert Foss 2L cited his surprise at seeing  a march for abortion rights in Dublin while he was a USF Summer Abroad student, as an example of how much Americans take their constitutional protections for granted. Professor Maya Manian, who moderated the session along with Professor John Adler, pointed out that reproductive rights are among those most at risk in the current judicial environment, and Adler commented that "the Constitution has a pervasive effect on our lives, yet often goes unnoticed."

Others, like Kathy Loo 2L, had a more direct encounter with the Constitution, although she was unaware of it at the time.  When she was 16 her father's small farm in the Central Valley had been flooded while larger farms were spared by flood diversion tactics. "It wasn't until I found out that the Supreme Court had upheld the rights of the big farms to control the water that devastated our farm.  There wasn't any 'justice for all' in that case," she said. 

While most of the discussion eddied around the pendulum swings of judicial review between expansive and regressive interpretations of the Constitution, Adler led the discussion around to the developing body of scholarship that is examining whether the Constitution does what it was intended to do, whether it should be amended , and dhow.  When asked how people can participate in changing the Constitution, aside from directly litigating Constitutional issues Manian and Adler recommended getting involved in politics at any level, writing op-eds and letters to the editor, and "using your credibility as a lawyer to educate and influence."

The event was organized by the USF chapter of the American Constitutional Society (ACS), one of the nation's leading progressive legal organizations.  ACS aims to revitalize the legal and public policy debates in law school classrooms, courtrooms, legislative hearing rooms, and the media.  Now in its third year at USF, the student chapter plans to sponsor additional presentations and to create opportunities for dialogue across the spectrum of opinion. 

For more information about ACS, contact acs.usf@gmail.com or visit www.acslaw.org.