Constitution Day: For Undergraduates

<sub>Constitution Day: For Undergraduates
Tuesday, September 17
12:10–1:10 p.m.
Lerner Hall Room 555

Registration closed
Open to Columbia and Barnard undergrads and CLS students
Lunch provided for registrants


Fall 2024 Events</sub>

_{Constitution Day is here—join Columbia Law faculty and law students for small group discussions on current challenges in US Constitutional interpretation and design. We will explore issues such as amending the Constitution, democratizing the Supreme Court, and originalism. No prior expertise needed.} 

_{Discussion groups include:}

• _{Should the Supreme Court have term limits? 
  with Professor Olatunde Johnson}

  • _{Dixon, Why the Supreme Court Needs (Short) Term Limits}

  • _{Malcolm, Written Testimony before the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States}

    • Known for her distinguished scholarship in civil procedure, legislation, and anti-discrimination law, Professor Olatunde C.A. Johnson is equally committed to cultivating the next generation of civic-minded lawyers. In the classroom, Johnson draws on her background in legal practice and government service to illustrate how social change can be effected through litigation as well as problem-solving outside the courtroom. 

• _{Amending the Constitution for gender equity
  with Lauren Young (Law 2L)
  Readings}

  • _{Full Text of the Equal Rights Amendment}

  • _{Opinion: It's Time To Reacquaint Americans with the Possibility of Changing the Constitution. Here’s Where to Begin. (NYT)}

  • _{ABA Updates Policy With Focus On Renewing ERA Effort}

  • _{Why the Equal Rights Amendment Is Again A Hot Topic In New York (NYT)}

  • _{Optional Recommended Readings:} 

    • _{ERA Project: The ERA and Abortion}

    • _{ERA Project: the Equal Rights Amendment and LGBTQ Equality} 

• _{Disinformation and Democracy 
  with Saul Roselaar (Law 2L)
  Readings}

  • _{ODNI Election Security Update 2024}

  • _{Updates from the Threat Analysis Group}

  • _{Social Media Influencer Charged with Election Interference Stemming from Voter Disinformation Campaign.}

• _{Slavery in the Constitution 
  with Sohum Pal (Law 2L, History PhD)
  Readings} 

  • _{Frederick Douglass, 1860, "The Constitution of the United States: is it Pro-Slavery or Anti-Slavery?”} 

  • _{Thurgood Marshall, 1987, "Commemorating the Wrong Document"}

    • Sohum Pal (he/they) is a third-year JD-PhD student in History at Columbia, where he studies the history of slavery in property and contract law in the Caribbean and the United States and teaches early American history. He also writes on legal history and philosophy for the Los Angeles Review of Books, The New Inquiry, and Law and History Review.

_{Registration closed}