The Constitution was signed more than 200 years ago, but the Paul M. Hebert Law Center presented several aspects of the Constitution living today. University students and faculty celebrated the second annual Constitution Day at the Law Center. Two years ago, Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W-Va, proposed a federal law that requires all higher education facilities to host a program about the Constitution. Constitution Day is on Sept. 17, but the Law Center held its program on Thursday because the original date fell on a weekend this year. “The American people should know something about the Constitution,” said Paul Baier, LSU law professor who hosted and organized the program. “It reflects our traditions of liberty and equality. The Declaration of Independence was the promise. The Constitution is the fulfillment.” This year, the Law Center teamed up with the Department of Political Science to organize the program. Ellis Sandoz, political science professor and Eric Voeglin Institute director, spoke to about 80 people about the origins of the Constitution at the program. “It’s based on a solid understanding of politics,” he said. Sandoz quoted John Adams and said the Constitution has been successful because it is a “true map of man.” Glenn Morris, Law Center vice chancellor, spoke about the importance of due process of law and how the Constitution enforces it. Morris said the constitutionality of siezing property because of late taxes is important especially in post-Hurricane Katrina Louisiana. He said he foresees law and decision about siezing abandoned property in New Orleans. John Devlin, LSU law professor, talked about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Fourth Amendment, which is the right against searches and seizures without reason. John Baker, law professor, addressed presidential powers and the ethics of wire-tapping. Edward Richards, law professor, began his speech with a photograph of the Ninth Ward after Katrina. Richards, who is also the Law, Science and Health Program director, said the government must be willing to protect its citizens. Richards spoke not about the use of powers given to the government by the Constitution, but the lack of use of powers on the part of the government. He said state and federal governments are not using their powers to prevent another disaster like Katrina. Baier, who is the editor of “Justice Hugo Black’s 1986 Memoirs,” raffled off his book “The Pocket Constitutionalist” and two pocket-sized Constitutions.
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