Letters to the Editor
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Rick Spisak (Hobe Sound, Florida)
The following essays on the topic of Constitution Day can be adapted as letters to the editor. You may contact Rick at janhuss@ix.netcom.com with questions or comments.
Constitution Day 2006
by RW Spisak Jr.
While the celebration of Constitution Day was initiated in 2004, it has been 219 years since that September 17th in 1787 when the newly drafted Constitution was sent by the Constitutional Convention from Philadelphia for ratification.
While every American can easily recite that it was signed on Sept. 17, 1787, and ratified by the required number of states (nine) by June 21, 1788, and of course, further explain that it superseded the original charter of the United States in force since 1781 . . .
Wait, who am I kidding? Most people aren't aware that the original cause of the meeting was to resolve river navigation problems confounding Virginia and Maryland. They then reconvened with a broader mission to revise the Articles of Confederation which lacked two major pillars: an executive authority, and even more profoundly important, a robust statement of individual rights and civil liberties. These became the first ten amendments, our Bill of Rights.
Many compromises were necessary to bridge the range of opinions held, but there would be no compromise on the necessity for a section on individual rights and liberties. In fact, many delegates held that there would be no agreement, unless these liberties were protected. These were not abstract terms for colonists who had lived under the iron rule of an inherited monarchy. These rights established in law and direct language the right of each individual to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The Bill of Rights restricts governmental powers over the individual. We are guaranteed freedom of speech, press, the right to peaceably assemble, and freedom to practice our religion. It also prohibits the "establishment" of any state religion. The value of each human’s individual worth and dignity is established in law and it refers to the inalienable rights that are common to all human beings. Nearly two-thirds of the Bill of Rights is devoted to safeguarding the rights of persons suspected or accused of a crime. These rights include due process of law, fair trial, reasonable bond, freedom from self-incrimination, cruel and unusual punishment, and being held in jeopardy twice for the same crime.
A quick glimpse at today's headlines reinforces the living nature of the threats to individual rights and human dignity. Whether we look to the rights of the free press to inform the citizens under daily attack by those who would shroud government mistakes under a "national security blanket," or the all too common threats to free speech when students, academics or even judges are under siege due to unpopular opinions.
We have also recently witnessed the curiously named "free speech zones" used by authorities to relocate and limit public protest--the controversial indignities visited upon captives of both police and military authorities under the over broad rubric of "war on terror." Whether the discussion turns to "watch-lists," unlimited wire-taps, Guantánamo, Abu Ghraib or the cold-blooded defense of torture as a national policy, the Constitution is our bulwark and defense. Have all these rights and liberties fallen before the expediency of war? Is this the threat that abridges the basic human dignities guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the UN Charters?
When faced with the most powerful empire both commercially and militarily in the world (the British Empire), the founders demanded that these rights be recognized. Can we demand less now?
So, whether you're downloading to your I-POD, or watching sanitized movies over the public airwaves, your Constitutional Rights are in play. They are your allies in the court, in the legislature, when you're stopped by a police officer, or when you drive down the televised streets of your town. Ignore it or not, you are protected by the wisdom of the founders of this great human pact.... Or are you?
It's Your Constitution. Read it and understand how it works today.
Celebration of Constitution Day
RW Spisak Jr.
The Celebration of Constitution Day is a wonderful opportunity for citizens to consider the pact entered into on Sept 17, 1787. Over the intervening 219 years with very few amendments, it remains the most remarkable document of human freedom and liberty created by western civilization.
No cold, dusty document, it remains as vital and necessary today as when it was drafted to define this experiment in self-governance, civic and commercial rights. We need look no further than today's newspapers and newscasts to see how many issues of constitutional dimension are under review by the courts, the legislature and under the signature of the president's veto pen. It has often been said that it is in time of war when our rights are most endangered. History shows that mistakes have been made, when in an excess of zeal to prosecute this or that enemy, compromises of liberty have been urged and often adopted.
There are those who argue that, with the threats America faces today from stateless enemies who would damage America, limitations on press freedom, judicial oversight and personal liberty must be accepted. It must be remembered that the founders who drafted these monuments to liberty faced not stateless thugs, but they drafted the documents of liberty in the face of the greatest military and commercial power the world had ever known. In the face of an enemy like the British Empire, they outlined and insisted on these powerful statements of human dignity and the rights of mankind.
They stood for liberty, for freedom of speech and against the tyranny of the state when the very existence of their confederation was in doubt. They stood four-square in favor of humane treatment of prisoners and for fair treatment of individuals under criminal charges. General George Washington of the Continental Army protected the lives and dignity even of the Hessian mercenaries when their own resources were, to say the least, constrained.
Celebrate Constitution Day - Read Your Constitution - make it part of your civic responsibilities.
Constitution Day (rev 3)
Why we MUST celebrate Constitution Day, September 17, 2006
RW Spisak Jr.
The Constitution was sent out for ratification September 17th, 1787. 219 years later we need to ratify these values in our civic life again. Why? Far too many have forgotten the importance of these humane values. In 2006, as we face challenge after challenge to the historic interpretations of the Constitution, each school and college supported by federal funds is mandated to observe Constitution Day. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005, Public Law 108-447, proposed by constitutional scholar, Senator Robert C. Byrd, requires that all educational institutions receiving federal funding, provide an educational program on the U.S. Constitution on September 17 of each year.
Un-funded mandates aside, why should we look to the constitution, which, after all, was written some 219 years ago, since to many it is a "historical fact" and thus by definition, dull, boring, and not relevant today.
Wrong!
How is this ancient document relevant today? How is it not? Let's look at some of the guarantees from the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Amendment 1
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.]
Freedom of speech? (Have you heard of the "free speech" zones set up to distance protestors from significant events?) Academics and judges chastised for speaking out with unpopular views? Charges of "treason" when the press illuminates another covert executive action, whether it’s "secret prisons overseas," or ham-fisted attempts to hide Iraq War cost overruns by executive orders. Attempts to "end-run" congressional oversight, or dodge judicial scrutiny by conducting offshore torture. These are all Constitutional insults that need rectification. Unless there is a renewed awareness of the Constitution, they will not only continue, but increase.
Amendment 4
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.]
Unlimited wiretap surveillance of Americans? (FISA court rules ignored by the current administration, challenges to the independence of the judiciary). Revelations of extended surveillance of Anti-War Activists, Watch Lists that cannot be appealed, Quota for Air Marshalls, No-Fly Lists--these are clearly beyond constitutional sanction. The Fourth Amendment clearly provides for protection against these.
Amendment 6
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.]
Protections against cruel and unusual punishment? (Extra judicial imprisonment, and secret prisons, lawyers spied upon, prisoners held without charge indefinitely.) Threats to due process? (Planned "Executive" Military Tribunals already under challenge by the Supreme Court.)
These are just a few instances of the relationship between the Constitution’s guarantees and the current sad state of civil liberties in this great land. Flag wavers aside, patriotism is more than a decal, and it requires civic responsibility and a commitment to the values of the documents that made America the beacon of Liberty to the world. Let us not forget the great minds behind this magnificent document, and our promise to them.
Constitution Day is not just a sound bite!