The U.S. Constitution turns 224 on Saturday, Sept. 17, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut is marking the occasion with several days of educational programs and presentations.
Executive Director Andrew Schneider talked with students and faculty at Manchester Community College on Thursday about the history and mission of the ACLU. He described several past and current cases, and fielded questions on topics ranging from efforts to block the Enfield schools from holding graduations in a church to the decriminalization of marijuana and the application of constitutional rights to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
"The fact is that our Constitution does not just protect citizens but any person on American soil," Schneider explained. "And Guantanamo Bay is American soil."
The lecture was one of a series of three on constitutional topics at the college Thursday. Martin Margulies, a professor emeritus at the Quinnipiac College School of Law and a volunteer attorney for the ACLU, spoke about “The Tea Party and the Constitution.” And attorney Richard Voigt addressed “The Big Gamble: Article VI and the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.”
On Thursday afternoon, ACLU-CT legal director Sandy Staub spoke to about 70 students at the University of New Haven about the death penalty, particularly as it has been applied in Connecticut. In a lively discussion that followed, students also asked about a wide range of constitutional issues.
On Tuesday, ACLU board member Don Noel kicked off an annual program aimed at educating secondary school students about the Constitution with a presentation at Jumoke Academy in Hartford. On Friday, a group of lawyers, law students and other trained volunteers set out to carry that message to schools throughout the state.
