Transcript Staff Writer
By Peggy Laizure
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
These words, written more than 200 years ago, begin the U.S. Constitution which was signed by 55 delegates Sept. 17, 1787, at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia's Independence Hall.
Although some changes have been made since that time, the Constitution has led the United States through more than two centuries of political change, social transformation and economic challenge.
In 1955, the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) petitioned Congress to set aside Sept. 17-23 annually to be dedicated for the observance of Constitution Week. The resolution was adopted by Congress and signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower Aug. 2, 1956.
President Bush has declared Sept. 17-23 as Constitution Week and Sept. 17 as Constitution and Citizenship Day.
"Constitution Week is the perfect opportunity to read and study this great document which is the safeguard of our American liberties," said DAR President General Linda Gist Calvin. "We encourage all citizens across the country to take time this week to reflect on our heritage of freedom."
"Our Constitution stands as a testament to the tenacity of Americans throughout history to maintain their liberties and freedom and to ensure those unalienable rights to every American," she said.
In 1928, the Daughters began work on a building as a memorial to the Constitution. John Russell Pope, architect of the Jefferson Memorial, was commissioned to design the performing arts center, known as DAR Constitution Hall.
A Constitution Day forum "Safeguarding Freedom: Is There an Assault on the Independent Judiciary?" will be 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Bell Courtroom at the University of Oklahoma Law Center, 300 W. Timberdell Road.
Presenters are Judge Lee West, United States senior district judge for the Western District of Oklahoma; Andrew Tevington, chief counsel to former Gov. Henry Bellmon and deputy director of the Public Utilities Division of the Corporation Commission; and Arnold Hamilton, editor of the Oklahoma Observer and formerly with Dallas Morning News. Randy Coyne, Edna Asper Elkouri and Frank Elkouri, professor of law and senior editor Amicus Journal, will serve as moderators.
Among the issues that will be discussed are new rules on FBI investigations of national security cases, how the rules can be enforced and what would be the process and the suspension of habeas corpus.
A 6 p.m. reception in the Sneed Lounge in the Law Center will precede the forum. The public is invited to the forum and the reception.
Monetary sponsors for the event are the League of Women Voters Education Fund, Program on Constitutional and Legal Policy of the Open Society Institute, University of Oklahoma Honors College, University of Oklahoma College of Law, American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma and Common Cause Oklahoma.
Additional sponsors are the League of Women Voters of Norman, League of United Latin American Citizens, The Peace House, Peace Education Institute, Unitarian Universalist Community Church of Norman, The Interfaith Alliance of Oklahoma, Norman Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Oklahoma City Branch, NAACP and the Oklahoma Chapter Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
