Huntington University to host roundtable discussion on Fourteenth Amendment
Allen Superior Court judge to speak on panel
FOR RELEASE
2010-09-08
Huntington, Ind. — Huntington University will observe Constitution Day on Sept. 17 with a public roundtable discussion on the Fourteenth Amendment.
The program will be held from 11 a.m. to noon in the Zurcher Auditorium of the Merillat Center for the Arts on Huntington University’s campus. Panelists include the Hon. Daniel G. Heath, judge of the Allen County Superior Court’s Civil Division; John L. Hill, professor of law, adjunct professor of philosophy and John S. Grimes Fellow at the Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis; and Gavin Rose, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.
This amendment sparked controversy when it was adopted in 1868 in order to extend U.S. citizenship to the newly-freed slaves. It continues to be controversial today.
In recent weeks, the amendment took center stage as the ruling in the Kristin M. Perry v. Arnold Schwarzenegger case said that California’s Proposition 8 law banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Some have suggested during recent debates on immigration policy that the amendment should be modified to disallow birthright citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants — the so-called “anchor babies.”
In all, the roundtable discussion aims to demonstrate the immediacy and relevance of constitutional questions to the current generation of Huntington University students.
The program is co-sponsored by the HU Office of the Vice President and Dean of the University and the Department of History and Political Science.
For more information, contact Dr. Jeffrey Webb, professor of history, at jwebb@huntington.edu or (260) 359-4243.
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