Library blog

The U.S. Constitution: It's Complicated

by Karen Jury on 2021-09-09T14:57:50-04:00 | 0 Comments

On September 17, 1787, 39 men signed a document that officially made the United States of America the sovereign nation as we know it today: the United States Constitution. Since 2004, Constitution Day has commemorated the day of the signing (September 17) and required educational institutions that are publicly funded (as well as federal agencies) to provide programming about the U.S. Constitution and its history on that day.

Here at Central Penn College, we’re not publicly funded, but we are still celebrating Constitution Day. The current library display contains books (and 2 DVDs) about the Constitution and constitutional law. Also, our Capital Blue Cross Theatre is hosting The Hand That Holds the Quill, a play with music about the birth of the Constitution, which is framed around the man who literally penned the Constitution (actually wrote the words on the parchment).

As I was reading about the Constitution and all the different ways it has been interpreted over the last 234 years, I was reminded why I am glad that I did not choose legal studies as my field of expertise. Most people would agree, I hope, that certain changes (i.e. amendments) made to the original Constitution were necessary—slavery needed to be abolished, for one thing. However, the field of constitutional law has evolved in many different directions, depending not only on how times and circumstances have changed but also somewhat on the ideas and beliefs of the judges appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. It is the job of that court to interpret the Constitution and any other laws passed by Congress, but that job is complicated because judges are human--as are lawmakers. And one thing most humans can agree on is that it can be difficult to get even small numbers of humans to agree on anything, big or small.

Personally, I believe that there are plenty of things the government should not be involved with, and that people should generally have the freedom to do what they want when they want to do it. However, I also believe that if a person wants to take money out of a bank that they did not deposit (or drive away in a car that they do not own or have permission to use), those people should be stopped--and there should be a part of the government that imposes consequences to help stop people from doing certain things. Again, I think few people would disagree that robbing banks and/or stealing cars should be illegal—but there are plenty of other actions (or inactions) that do not qualify as so legally obvious. (I've been thinking lately about abortion as one of those areas of disagreement, but I'm not going to get into that debate here.)

If you’re interested in learning more about the U.S. Constitution and how the laws of this country have evolved, please stop by the library and/or check out our latest New to You @ the Library lists which include the books below.