National Constitution Center Scholar Exchange Program
We are pleased to continue our dedication to providing essential civics education for our nation’s youth by participating in the National Constitution Center’s Scholar Exchange program. Part lecture and part lively conversation, the program offers students the opportunity to learn important Constitutional principles while interacting with a constitutional expert, historian, or federal judge. Learn more about Scholar Exchange and how you can lead one of these rewarding programs.
Read the Collection of Constitutional Principles
by Past President W. West Allen
Constitutional Reflections: A Recurrence to Fundamental Principles and Forming a More Perfect Union
by Past President W. West Allen
On-Demand Educational Sessions
Educational panels from the Virtual Leadership Summit are now available to watch on-demand!
Please note that CLE Credit is not available for on-demand viewing.
Pandemics, Federalism and the Preservation of Liberty
View Panel On-Demand (Live broadcast aired on March 16, 2021 at 2:00 PM ET)
The use of quarantines, occupancy limits, face masks and vaccinations have been primary tools in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. As courts grapple with the legality of these public health measures, what does the Constitution say about national and state authority, the preservation of personal liberty and the federal order in the COVID era? Are religious activities in this context deserving of greater Constitutional protection than secular ones? What legal reforms could emerge in the “new normal” following the pandemic ordeal?
- Stephanie Barclay, Associate Professor, Notre Dame Law
- Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law, Berkeley Law
- Lindsay F. Wiley, Professor of Law, Director of Health Law and Policy Program, American University Washington College of Law
- Moderator: Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO, National Constitution Center
Governing the Internet and the Future of Section 230
View Panel On-Demand (Live broadcast aired on March 17, 2021 at Noon ET)
Section 230, a provision of the Communication Decency Act (47 U.S.C. §230) gives online companies, including social-media platforms, broad immunity from legal liability for their users’ actions and wide latitude to police content on their sites. Enacted by Congress in the early years of the internet, section 230 today is undergoing intense reexamination. Amid the larger free speech/cancel culture debate, this session looks at whether US law should be changed to require platform operators like Facebook and Twitter to more actively regulate what their users post online.
- Carrie Goldberg,C.A. Goldberg, Victims’ Rights Law Firm
- Philip Hamburger, Maurice and Hilda Friedman Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
- Samir Jain, Center for Democracy and Technology, Director of Policy
- Moderator: Jonathan Turley, J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law; Director of the Environmental Law Advocacy Center; Executive Director, Project for Older Prisoners, George Washington University
Litigation and Reform in the Aftermath of the 2020 Election
View Panel On-Demand (Live broadcast aired on March 18, 2021 at Noon ET)
The 2020 election spawned a torrent of disputes contesting the validity of ballots, voting processes and state election laws. In its aftermath, state legislatures have been flooded with proposals to “reform” their election processes. In review of the 2020 elections, is our federal-state election infrastructure aligned to assure fairness and accountability? What changes should be made? What is the future of mail-in voting? Should the Electoral Count Act of 1887 be revisited? How can public confidence in the legitimacy of our Constitutional democracy be sustained?
- Nancy Abudu, Deputy Legal Counsel, Voting Rights, Southern Poverty Law Center
- Amber McReynolds, Chief Executive Officer, National Vote at Home Institute, Co-author of “When Women Vote”
- Michael T. Morley, Assistant Professor, Florida State University College of Law
- Moderator: Kimberly Wehle, Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law, author of What You Need to Know About Voting and WhyandHow to Read the Constitution and Why
Supreme Ideas? An Examination of Proposals to Change the Supreme Court
View Panel On-Demand (Live broadcast aired on March 19, 2021 at Noon ET)
Although the Constitution provides that there must be a Supreme Court, it does not say how many justices shall serve on that Court, nor prescribe the terms of the justices, or how the court shall operate, including its transparency and code of conduct. This panel will examine proposals to change the size of the court and how justices are selected, whether term limits should be set, and the need for ethics reforms.
- Chris Kang, Chief Counsel and Co-Founder, Demand Justice
- Kate Shaw, Professor of Law and the Co-Director of the Floersheimer Center for Constitutional Democracy, Cardozo Law
- Geoffrey R. Stone, Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor of Law, University of Chicago Law School
- Moderator:Amy Howe, Editor and Reporter, SCOTUSBlog, Howe on the Court