Open to Interpretation

Professors discuss issues related to Constitution

Ronald J. Rychlak, law professor and associate dean for academic affairs, talks about the First Amendment during the law school's annual Constitution Day panel.

undamental differences exist in the way that scholars view the U.S. Constitution, and some of those differences were the focus of a Constitution Day panel at the UM School of Law. Constitution Day is celebrated each Sept. 17, commemorating the day in 1787 that our country’s most important document was signed.

Law professor Jack Nowlin explained that one of the most fundamental disputes emerges from different ideas about how the Constitution should be interpreted. Some scholars and legal professionals view the Constitution as a living document that should evolve and “emphasize the future and faith in progress.”

“They view the Constitution not as a form of law but as a mission statement,” he said.

In contrast, traditionalists view the Constitution with an emphasis on the past and faith in tradition.

“Their goal is not to keep the Constitution in step with the times but to keep the times in step with the Constitution,” said Nowlin, who also briefly explored different views on the scope of judicial power as established in the Constitution.

Ronald J. Rychlak, professor of law and associate dean for academic affairs, said that the disagreements over the interpretation of the Constitution are evident in the historical debate over the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech. Outlining the case of Texas v. Johnson (1989), which dealt with the burning of an American flag, Rychlak said there continue to be threats to freedom of speech.

For example, more and more college campuses in the U.S. are establishing campus speech codes, and technology is creating questions about Internet content available to people across the world. Perhaps the most explosive example happened in Denmark, when hundreds of Muslims protested a political cartoon drawn by a Danish artist. However, the challenge is for people to continue to support freedom of expression even when they don’t agree with the expression, he said.

“Often, I think we find that civil rights boil down to freedom of expression,” he said. “Just think. Without freedom of expression, Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech would have remained just a dream.”

Each year on Constitution Day the School of Law hosts a panel discussion to celebrate the founding of our country.

“It is a universitywide celebration, but the law school has been pleased in recent years to put together the program for the university’s celebration of this special occasion,” said law Dean Samuel M. Davis. “We are blessed at Ole Miss with an abundance of outstanding teachers and scholars who have given freely of their time each year to take part in the program.”

—Jennifer Farish