Pre-Law
Constitution Day
What is Constitution Day?
The birthday of our Constitution, September 17, the date in 1787 on which delegates to the Philadelphia Convention completed and signed the U.S. Constitution.
The ideas on which America was founded--commitments to the rule of law, limited government, and the ideals of liberty, equality and justice--are embodied in the Constitution, the oldest written constitution of any nation. Constitution Day is intended to celebrate not only the birthday of our government, but the ideas that make us Americans.
The United States Government has designated September 17 as Constitution Day to commemorate the September 17, 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution.
Preamble to The Constitution of the United States of America
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Speakers
2012 - Leila Atassi ('02); Journalist, The Cleveland Plain Dealer; “The Death Penalty on Deadline: A reporter’s perspective on capital punishment in Ohio.” Learn more about this lecture.
2011 - Harold J. Winston, J.D.; Assistant Public Defender, Cook County, Illinois; “Overturning a Wrong Conviction After 26 Years: Lessons from Alton Logan.”
2010 - Shawn Judge ('93), J.D.; Career Law Clerk for the Honorable Gregory L. Frost in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio; “Pizza, Corpses, and Messages from Beyond: The Constitution in the Trenches of the American Judiciary.”
2009 - Peter Irons; University of California, San Diego; “God on Trial: Religion and Law in American Society.” Learn more about this lecture.
2008 - Mark Allenbaugh, J.D.; Allenbaugh Samini LLP, Newport Beach, California; “Recent Supreme Court Jurisprudence on Rationality, Proportionality and Equality in Federal Criminal Justice: Are We Safe?”
2007 - Jeffrey Brand-Ballard, J.D., Ph.D.; George Washington University; “Must Judges Respect the Constitution?”
2006 - Jason Desiderio, Prosecutor’s Office; Douglas Drushal, private practice attorney; Mark Wiest, Common Pleas Court Judge; and Beverly Wire, Public Defender; “Why is the Constitution Important?”