Tomorrow I travel to the University of Maine at Farmington with ACLU of MAINE staff and Board members for our annual Bill of Rights Education Conference for area high school students. This is the first in a series of three conferences over the next three weeks -- Farmington, Belfast and Portland -- serving almost six hundred students. Conference workshops cover First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Among the topics of discussion: How do we reconcile free speech and anti-discrimination protections? Is there a Constitutional right to privacy? How is technology changing our understanding of freedom of speech and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure? An ACLU of MAINE member said to me last week, "We used to call this civics." Some civics teachers are already doing great work teaching students about our system of government and the great documents that guide us. But given the lack of basic understanding on the part of politicians running for office about what the Constitution does and doesn't say, there's definitely room for more Bill of Rights education. The ACLU of MAINE brings real world legal cases to the classroom. Our goal is to make the Constitution and the Bill of Rights a living document for all Mainers. If you would like your child to benefit from this education program, contact your school about inviting the ACLU of MAINE. We will travel anywhere in the state to distribute pocket Constitutions and to educate our young people about democracy.
