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2015 Constitution Day: PoliTALK with Akhil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law at Yale Law School

On Thursday, September 17th, the Rockefeller Center hosted a PoliTALK student dinner with Professor Akhil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law at Yale Law School as part of Dartmouth's annual Constitution Day celebration. Professor Amar teaches constitutional law both at Yale College and Yale Law School, and has been favorably cited by Supreme Court justices across the spectrum in more than 30 cases. 
The dinner provided participating students, many of whom expressed an interest in a legal career, with the opportunity to ask Professor Amar questions about the Constitution and its role in shaping contemporary national principles and laws. Professor Amar was an engaging speaker, and addressed constitutional issues pertinent to today’s political and judicial climate. These included the debate over the constitutional legitimacy of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate, as well as the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause that has been called into question by presidential candidate Donald Trump. He also spoke about his positions on the interpretive debate between originalist and moral relativist readers of the Constitution.

As part of the Rockefeller Center's celebration of Constitution Day, the event provided a unique opportunity to explore the applicability of US constitutional principles to contemporary issues and highlighted the continued significance of the document’s moral principles.


-Written by Marie Plecha '16, Rockefeller Center Student Program Assistant 

What is Constitution Day?

Constitution Day is an American federal observance that recognizes the adoption of the United States Constitution and those who have become U.S. citizens. It is normally observed on September 17, the day in 1787 that delegates to the Constitutional Convention signed the document in Philadelphia, PA.

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