The CLASP V conference was held in the Wolf Law Building at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Many of the walls in darkened hallways were covered with photos of students, and various legal quotes from what I assume to be revered legal scholars. I began to wonder if among the various writings on the walls, the Preamble, Articles and Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America might be found framed and hanging where all the law students could read the words that, as future lawyers and judges, they would file lawsuits over, and rule on the “constitutionality” of laws sometimes passed by elected representatives in legislatures and Congress, but more often laws enacted by executive order and regulatory agencies. 

So I wandered around the public areas of the law school looking for the Constitution of the United States of American. I did not see the US Constitution on the wall if it were in plain sight; but that’s not to say it was not there. It might be just a tiny thing, that was easy to miss. The original Preamble to the Constitution is only 52 words, and the original seven articles and ten Amendments were four hand written pages on parchment; but even with an additional 17 amendments, the current US Constitution is around 8,000 words and barely fills 20 pages in 12 point Times New Roman. Seems a perfectly reasonable size for framing.

Actually, I would have been more surprised the find the US Constitution or any part of it displayed prominently in a Law School, than not finding it. I would guess finding the US Constitution on display in a Law School is about as likely as finding the Ten Commandments in a public school. I think there is an unwritten rule of separation of the US Constitution from Law Schools, because while one might think a degree in “Constitutional Law” would be all about the Constitution it’s not. Constitutional Law is really about how to subvert the Constitution, dismantle the Constitution, even destroy the Constitution because the Constitution is old, out-of-date, doesn’t address modern values, and most importantly, it stands in the way of progressive thought and activist values. 

Instead of changing the US Constitution to reflect modern life, Congress simply ignores it, so lawyers for special interests and activists claim any judgments against the advancement of their clients’ agendas are “unconstitutional” when they have no clue of what those 8,000 words have to say about anything let alone their clients’ agendas. 

Thus, as I wandered and wondered about the Law School building, it started to have a very warped and twisted look to it with all those faces on the walls, young students diligently studying case law and judgments handed down on the constitutionality of legal actions made with no real reference to the Constitution.