UA Celebrates Constitution Day with Student Debate on Defense of Marriage Act

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — In honor of Constitution Day, The University of Alabama will host a student debate Friday, Sept. 17 at 1 p.m. in the Ferguson Center Theater on “Is the Defense of Marriage Act Constitutional?”

The debate is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences and the department of political science.

Dr. Joseph Smith, associate professor of political science, said the debate’s topic is timely since a federal judge declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional earlier this year on the grounds that it violates the 10^th Amendment.

“This is a classic collision between national authority and states’ rights,” said Smith, the event’s organizer. “The Defense of Marriage Act says that for the purposes of federal programs, a marriage is a union of one man and one woman. This controls a lot of federal spending, such as whether or not spouses of federal employees can get health insurance benefits.

“Massachusetts says that it has the right to define marriage, and the federal government is mistreating same-sex married couples from Massachusetts. The federal government says it has the right to put restrictions on the spending of federal money.”

UA undergraduate students will participate in the debate, with one team being from Smith’s constitutional law course and the other made up of students from the UA Pre-Law Students Association and the University Mock Trial Team.

Constitution Day celebrates the signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787. The day honors the legacy of the 39 men who signed the document and also gives citizens a chance to reflect on the laws it set in place.

The College of Arts and Sciences is the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.