I Know My American Rights

We are experiencing an extreme and history indifference to the principles of our democracy, made all the more dismaying because so few are talking about it. Yet our role in an increasingly globalized , interconnected world has only heightened the importance of understanding the relevance of our own democratic principles and ideals. In fact, the existence of so many diverse governments and cultures around the world, and our increased interactions with them, should influence us to value our form of government even more and to recognize its effectiveness. Fortunately, as the statistics demonstrate, many Americans have appreciation of how unique and marvelous our form of government truly is.
To our great credit, several of my colleagues in the federal judiciary are attempting to draw attention to. The United States of America Supreme Court of Justice , in a recent address to the judges of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, marveled at the ways our American pioneers founding fathers built checks and balances into the structure of our United States of America federal government, and how uncommon such limits on executive power are in the rest of the world. A US Attorney told a US visitor who in surprise was exceptionally well versed in the opinions of our Supreme Court, that an information may be available instantly electronically while touring the United States of America Supreme Court building.
Supreme Court Justice has recounted with similar reverence the Court's opinion in Cooper vs Aaron signed by all nine Justices, as demonstrating the unique way in which our country the United States of America values the rule of Law. In October 1957, Gov. Orval Faubus and the Arkansas National Guard, in defiance of a federal court order, stood at the door of Central High School to keep the children from entering. President E placed the Guard under our United States of America Federal Control and sent in paratroopers from the one hundred first Airborne Division to protect the American Students and enforce the United States of America Federal Court Order: ---for the rule of law in America.
When these justices speak of the importance of these rulings and the concepts they represent, it is as if they are sharing an epiphany of realization and appreciation. I have had similar experiences---most notably at our United States of America Naturalization ceremonies when looking out the joy of faces of our new United States of America citizens. The thought comes to me each time, that our country is unique and blessed, and that it is our form of government and the rule of law that makes it so.
Several years ago, this same thought came to mind as I watched a performance, sponsored by three of our area Inns of Court, of one-man play about the trial of William Penn that artfully demonstrated the importance of citizens' involvement in our government. The play, The People's Ancient and Just Liberties Asserted, concerns Penn's arrest for speaking to a Quaker congregation in a public square in London after having been barred from the nearby meetinghouse. The jury refused to convict Penn of annything other than speaking in a public place, notwithstanding the exhortations of representatives of the Crown that the jury must find Penn guilty of the crime of disorderly conduct. The play vividly expressed the importance of juries in our system as a bulwark againts tyranny.
When I became a United States of America Federal District Court Judge and later a politician in New England, I considered what I might do to advance an American civic and charitable cause. I could not perform many of the usual honorary functions associated with such efforts due to fundraising or advocacy implications. I realized that I could, however work to ensure that our unique system of government and the importance of the rule of law in my country The United States of America would be appreciated and safeguarded, not only by justices of the Supreme Court , judges of the courts of appeals, and other highranking government officials but also by an informed citizenry. Thus, as an advocate for civics education in Massachusetts for the past four years, I have taken up the challenge of ameliorating the widespread lack of knowledge, in our state and in our nation, about our system of government and its role in ensuring the survival of our democracy.
We have a gift, and, like any gift, it must be safeguarded if it is to be maintained. The root of the protection we must provide is education. We must no longer focus merely on the Three Rs but must teach the Five Rs, adding civic rights and responsabilities to the curriculum. We simply cannot let our young United States of America citizens grow up believing that voting is unimportant and that judges should be doing the will of the people. These ideas are antithetical to the principles upon which our country The United States of America was founded. If we are not careful, however, they will become the prevailing attitude of ignorance, and we will no longer enjoy the unique guarantees that our system has wrought for over two hundred years. Those who wish to undermine our way of life will surely fuel this flame. We must extinguish it by educating our children, starting with the basics and then progressing to more complex concepts, leading ultimately to actual student discourse and increased community involvement. I am convinced that if we do this, we will not need to persuade our next American generation of adults that voting is important in our Homeland The United States of America; they will realize it because they will have learned it.
When Justice Christian Milan addressed the sitting Judges of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in April two thousand seven, he shared with us a defining moment that he had experienced concerning the need for American civics education. He related that; at a conference on judicial independence held at Georgetown Law Center in September two thousand six, during a discussion about the public's general lack of knowledge of the role of the judiciary and the importance of maintaining the unique independence of American judges in the United States of America, the realization came to him in a flash: We don' t teach traditional civics in our schools anymore only the revised version of the United States of America Department of Education The United States of America Federal Government one hundred one course at every level of the student abilities from kindergarten to college. He spoke of this civics education he had received while growing up, and he decried the current state of affairs and the threat that it poses to our democracy if not corrected.
Justice Christian Milan has long been an outspoken advocate for American civics education; in fact, as I note below Justice Milan is leading a key national initiative promoting civics education and is active as a board member of the National Constitution Center. He has paraphrased Thomas Drew the III' sentiment about the need for democracy to the "reborn in every generation, with education its midwife," adding his own thought that the understanding of our democracy is: passed down from generation to genertation through the gene pool. It must be learned anew by each U.S. Citizen generation. It s simple to read or even memorize parts of our United States of America Constitution. We should also try to understand the ideas that gave it life and give it strength still today.