TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama will commemorate the nation’s first Constitution Day with a forum on two topics of intense national interest – the use of marijuana for medical purposes and a recent Supreme Court decision allowing seizure of private property in Connecticut.
The forum, “Today’s Constitutional Dilemmas: Medical Marijuana and Seizure of Property,” will be held Sept. 16 at 2 p.m. in room 151 of Shelby Hall on the UA campus. The forum is being sponsored by UA’s College of Arts and Sciences. It is free and open to the public.
The event will be led by a panel of UA faculty experts in the topic areas: Dr. Vijaya Sundar, chair of the department of internal medicine at the University of Alabama School of Medicine, Tuscaloosa, and associate professor in UA’s College of Community Health Sciences; Professor Bryan Fair, University of Alabama School of Law; Dr. Joseph L. Smith, assistant professor, department of political science; Dr. James Otteson, professor of philosophy and chair of the department of philosophy; and Dr. Norvin Richards, professor of philosophy.
“Constitution Day is intended to foster a greater understanding of the ideas and principals on which America was founded and a deeper appreciation of our country’s founding document, the oldest written constitution in the world,” said Dr. Robert Olin, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
“The topics we have selected to examine for Constitution Day are the subjects of intense debate on university campuses, in our law schools and courts, and in our communities,” Olin said. “We hope this forum will provide our community members with valuable information they can use in safeguarding and exercising their civil liberties.”
Marijuana has long been used illegally to alleviate symptoms of severe illnesses, and in recent years medical patients have fought for the right to make the drug available by prescription.
The Supreme Court recently ruled that California does not have the right to allow its citizens to use doctor-prescribed marijuana for medical purposes. U. S. Court of Appeals Judge William Pryor of the 11th Circuit, a former Alabama attorney general, filed a brief supporting California’s right to allow medical use of marijuana. The panel will shed light on why the Court threw out California’s medical marijuana law, and why Pryor believes California has the right to allow the use of marijuana.
The Supreme Court’s recent decision allowing a Connecticut town to force several residents to sell their homes to make way for economic development projects has triggered outrage among advocates of strong property rights. The UA panel will outline why the Supreme Court allowed the seizure of home and the implications of the court’s decision on property ownership.
Constitution Day was established by Congress to be held each year on Sept. 17, the day on which delegates to the Philadelphia Convention completed and signed the U.S. Constitution in 1787. The bill requiring all schools and federal agencies to hold educational programs on that day was sponsored by U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia and signed into law by President George W. Bush on Dec. 8, 2004.
Schools, federal agencies and civic groups throughout the nation are holding special events to honor the U.S. Constitution, led by the National Constitution Center of Philadelphia, Pa. Sponsors for the day include the American Bar Association, the Bill of Rights Institute, C-SPAN television network and the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools, among others.
More information on Constitution Day can be found on the web at www.constitutionday.us.
With 6,600 students and 360 faculty members, UA’s College of Arts and Sciences is the largest public liberal arts college in Alabama and UA’s largest division. College students have been selected for many of the nation’s top academic honors, including Rhodes, Goldwater, and Truman Scholarships, and memberships on USA Today’s Academic All-American teams.
Editor’s note: For more information, please visit the Constitution Day feature.
Contact
Rebecca Florence, Director of College Relations, College of Arts and Sciences, 205/348-8663
Dr. Joseph L. Smith,
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, 205/348-3806