Constitution Day

Each year JMC's Constitution Day Initiative supports Constitution Day events on campuses around the country, enabling thousands of college students to examine constitutional questions with renowned experts and policy-makers. Students have participated in discussions on constitutional issues from 1787 to the present with eminent historians, political scientists, and legal scholars, as well as with public officials including US Supreme Court Justices.

Since its founding, the Jack Miller Center has promoted the rigorous study of the Constitution. To this end, last year we launched an online resource center devoted to the theme of the First Amendment's protection of speech and press. This year we are expanding our online resource center to address the history, law, and theory of the entire First Amendment. This center is designed to be useful to advanced high school students, college students, educators, and scholars alike.

This year, the Jack Miller Center presents its second annual online symposium: a series of essays by JMC fellows on this year’s theme, the First Amendment. Professor Mark David Hall of Louisiana State University argues in the lead essay that a recent Supreme Court decision concerning a baker's right to refuse service to a gay couple on religious grounds missed an important opportunity to stand up for religious liberty and freedom of speech. Other JMC fellows will respond to Hall's argument in the coming weeks.