By KELSEY SWANEKAMP
Buffalo Law Journal

Attorneys will be bringing the constitution to life this month for local school children.

In honor of Constitution Day, September 17th, the American Constitution Society will be holding Constitution in the Classroom, an interactive lecture series in which lawyers visit schools to discuss the founding document and its relevance to modern society.

Constitution in the Classroom is the "signature public service" of the society, said Frank Housh, the society's only Buffalo-area member and an attorney with Cohen & Lombardo, P.C.

Constitution Day offers an excellent opportunity to engage students in discussions about how their daily lives are affected by the 200-year-old document, said Housh.

The program began in 2006 and has since expanded to 13 cities across the country, from Washington, D.C. to Boise, Idaho.

"We're very excited to be adding Buffalo to those ranks," said Jill Dash, the associate director for lawyer chapters with ACS.

During the event's first incarnation in Buffalo, at least five lawyers will be visiting local schools to explore the ramifications of Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines.

"For obvious reasons, it's something kids can identify with," said Housh about the landmark case which determined whether students have the right to free speech in schools.

"The Supreme Court eventually held that children's First Amendment rights trumped the school rules," he said.

Alisa Lukasiewicz, an attorney with Phillips Lytle, will visit Bennett High School as part of the program.

"I am thrilled to have the opportunity to discuss a document that, as a lawyer, has very much defined my career," she said.

The curricula for the program was developed in conjunction with the Student Press Law Center. Lesson plans include three separate levels -- elementary, middle and high school - which build on students' current knowledge and understanding. With elementary students, "we work to make it a little more interactive," said Dash, with the discussion covering everything from whether students have the right to "protest pizza in the cafeteria," to where these rights come from and how they came into play in Tinker v. Des Moines.

For older students, the lesson plan includes class debates and an analysis of related Supreme Court cases.

A similar program, headed by Michael Burger, is underway in Rochester.

While there is no official chapter of ACS in the Buffalo area, Housh is hopeful that one will be up-and-running in the near future. For now, he said, Constitution in the Classroom is "a way for local attorneys to be engaged in a wonderful program."

This year, ACS hopes to build on its previous success.

"We've gotten fantastic feedback from past efforts," said Dash.

 

This year, Constitution in the Classroom celebrates the 40th anniversary of Tinker v. Moines, the 1969 Supreme Court case that determined the extent of free speech in public schools.
The case centered around two high school students and one middle school student who wore black armbands with white peace symbols to school. The students were suspended and only permitted to return once they had removed the armbands.
In the 7-2 decision, the court ruled that silent demonstrations qualify as "pure speech" and are protected by the First Amendment, even in schools.
In his majority opinion, Justice Abe Fortas wrote, "It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."
The rights laid out in Fortas's opinion were later curtailed by a series of Supreme Court decisions.
In the 1986 Bethel School District v. Fraser, the Supreme Court determined that sexual innuendo-laden speech during a school assembly was not protected by the Constitution. The case centered around a nominating speech for student government which included obscene language and for which the student was suspended.
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, 1988, ruled that schools can control or censor the content of school newspapers.
And in the 2007 case Morse v. Frederick, the court ruled that speech about illegal drug use is not protected, even if it occurs at a school-sponsored event off of school property.