Constitution Day Special Event 9/17 -- Registration Open!

 CONSTITUTION DAY

An Audacious Idea Whose Time Has Come: The Democracy Constitution 

Friday, September 17, 2021

12:00 – 2:00 PM

Held virtually on Zoom

Most Americans think that contemporary political dysfunction is rooted in a failure to follow constitutional rules and live up to constitutional ideals. From this celebratory perspective, the solution to our political ills is a renewed commitment to the Constitution of the United States.  Professor Sanford Levinson and Michael Tomasky think this consensus may be fatal to the future of American constitutional democracy.  Their bold view is that political dysfunction is rooted in our commitment to following the constitution. The solution to our political ills is a constitutional convention that would draft a new and better twenty-first century Constitution for the United States. 

In our 15^th annual Constitution Day program, Levinson and Tomasky will explain why they believe the United States needs a new constitution, and why their proposed constitution may be what the United States needs. That Constitution can be found at The Democracy Constitution published recently in Democracy: A Journal of Ideas with commentary and dissents.

Professors Marley Weiss and Mark Graber from the law school and Professor Brian Gilmore from the MLAW program at College Park will offer comments in response. The panel will be chaired by Associate Dean Peter Danchin.

Sponsored by:

League of Women Voters of Maryland, the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the University of Maryland, College Park, Dept. of Government and Politics, and MLAW Programs.

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://umaryland.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMrc-iprT0sH9QApIlrcJsBmBZUDd2S8Ja5 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Speakers:

 

Sanford (Sandy) Levinson, W. St. John Garwood Centennial Chair in Law and Government, University of Texas School of Law

 

 

Michael Tomasky, editor of The New Republic and Democracy: A Journal of Ideas

 

 

Commentators:

Brian Gilmore, Senior Lecturer, College of Behavioral & Social Sciences and MLAW Program, University of Maryland College Park

 

      

Marley Weiss, Professor of Law, University of Maryland Carey School of Law

 

        Mark A. Graber, University System of Maryland Regents Professor

 

 

Moderator:

 

Peter G. Danchin, Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development

Jacob. A France Professor of Law