Smith County Bar Foundation holds Constitution Day event

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - In the great experiment that is the United States, our constitution is a document that has stood the test of time, and that was the focus of an event in Tyler on Friday.

Constitution Day is meant to educate people on the importance of the rights this document establishes.

With numerous young people in attendance, the Smith County Bar Foundation hosted their 2023 Constitution Day event in the Rogers-Palmer Performing Arts Center on the TJC campus.

“We know about the first amendment, 2nd amendment, 3rd amendment, but from that point on through the 8th amendment, a lot of those rights are rights that protect people from being prosecuted by the state,” said Stephen L. Baskind, attorney and adjunct professor of history at TJC.

The program focused on the origins of how amendments were formed and how they effect us. The objective is to educate young people on a document that defines us as United States citizens.

“To celebrate and make young people aware of the importance of the constitution and the rule of law,” said Attorney Mandy Nelson.

“In high school, we never deeply covered the constitution, so I’m hoping to have a better understanding of the history of the constitution leading up to the ratification of different amendments,” said TJC freshman Micah Brown.

The amendments to the constitution are foundations of our rights and freedoms, as Baskind pointed out, with the 5th amendment being a crucial one.

“5th amendment, everybody knows that, so we’ll look at the foundations of the 5th amendment: the right against self-incrimination. It’s very much a live document because that is a right that is exercised virtually daily in the criminal courts today,” Baskind said.

These are rights they hope will not be amended away.

A priority of the Smith County Bar Foundation is to educate college and high school students on the importance of the constitution and its relevance in daily life.

Copyright 2023 KLTV. All rights reserved.