The Importance of Learning about the US Constitution

Posted by David J. Shestokas Jul 9, 2009

It seems as though the American public is very underinformed about the US Constitution, what it was intended to achieve and what it actually says. I started out with several articles about constitutional issues, such as Miranda Warnings, Probable Cause for Arrest, Extradition, Right to a Jury Trial and others, primarily because those items were related to my career in criminal justice, first as a prosecutor, and then as a criminal defense attorney.

As I was talking about my writing to other people I became aware of how little is known by folks generally regarding the organizing document of our society. The was little understanding that things like Miranda Warnings existed because of the Constitution. It was perhaps because I live in a world where the Constitution is critical to protecting citizens from the excesses of government that I did not realize until I was writing for a more general audience the limits of our collective knowledge about the document that binds us together.

I then set out to write some explanatory articles about the Constitution. The articles at Suite 101, unlike this blog, have a journalisitc, professional format requirement, with a goal of education and information. I have labored to explain Constitutional issues in non-lawyer terms in the articles. It is important to have a public understanding at least of the logistics of the Constittution with a goal of building an understanding of its broader purposes. Those purposes are more the subject of a blog than an informative article.

My current goal is to go through the mechanics of the document with the Articles and then to move on to the implications of those mechanics in our daily lives. Whether we know it or not, we are touched by the Constitution every day. If you use your driver's license in another state, it is because of the Constitution. When there is a withholding from your paycheck it is because of the Amendment allowing the income tax. When you send or receive a letter, it is through the post office established by the Constitution. The list goes on and on.

The new group of articles looks at the presidency, congress, the judiciary and intergovernmental relations. While each of these are examined, the initial explanations are more of a technical nature rather than an explanation of the goals. There is much more to be said about each, but that will come later.

When President Obama, a former constitutional law professor. describes the document as one of "negative liberties" it is critical that the rest of us educate ourselves so that we can all preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.