Editorial

Front Page - Friday, October 15, 2010

District Court celebrates Constitution Day with students

Leslie Cory

Ninety-five American history and government students from Central, Hixson, Oolte-wah, and Red Bank High Schools spent Sept. 17, celebrating the 223rd birthday of the United States Consti-tution with the U.S. District Court in Chattanooga.
Chief United States District Judge Curtis L. Collier opened court with an introduction to the purpose and power of the Constitution. He stressed to the students the responsibility they have to be informed citizens. Our constitutional republic, he noted, depends upon an informed citizenry and cannot survive without one.
Student volunteers performed a skit that demonstrated why, both in 1787 and in 2010, Americans need a Constitution. Magistrate Judge William B. Carter delved into the Bill of Rights, focusing on his personal favorite, the Fourth Amendment.
U.S. District Judge “Sandy” Mattice brought Gideon v. Wainwright to life with a pre-sentation that included clips from the movie “Gideon’s Trumpet.” And Bankruptcy Judge Shelley Rucker tested the students’ knowledge of the Con-stitution with a game of “Federal Court Trivia.”
Sample question: How many words are in the Constitution: 164,000, 27,000, 19,300, or 7,500?
2010 marks the fourth year the U.S. District Court and the Chattanooga Chapter of the Federal Bar Association have sponsored a Constitution Day program for area students.
In 2005, the United States Congress had designated Sept. 17 as “Constitution Day” and urged the nation’s schools to find ways of observing the occasion and instructing their students on the opportunities and responsibilities bestowed upon citizens under the Constitution. The United States District Court in Chattanooga inaugurated its Constitution Day program as a way of helping area schools meet this challenge.

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