Now is the Moment When Your Commitment to the Ideals of the Constitution is Most Needed

September 17, 2025, marks the twentieth anniversary of Constitution Day in the U.S., a day designated to "commemorate the formation and signing on September 17, 1787, of the Constitution." Acknowledging, let alone celebrating, Constitution Day may seem difficult to do in a year when a presidential administration, enabled by an obsequious Supreme Court, is running roughshod over constitutional protections for the most vulnerable among us and the constraints that would stop such abuses of power. But it is in this moment, when the promise of our Constitution seems most tenuous, that we must reclaim and celebrate it.

Throughout its nearly 25 years, the American Constitution Society has worked towards a vision of the Constitution and our legal system that improves the lives of all people. We acknowledge the founding failures of our Constitution, including enshrining slavery and limiting political participation, but believe in its potential to serve as a foundation for a truly multiracial, pluralistic, and representative democracy.

Across the country, ACS network members are honoring the day by participating in Constitution in the Classroom (CITC), ACS's flagship Constitution Day program, where for over 20 years, members of the legal profession have coordinated with local schools to teach lessons on the Constitution. This year, we worked directly with national education organizations to expand our reach. Several of ACS's nearly 250 chapters across the country have also organized programming, including discussions on the Supreme Court docket and constitutional law in Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Washington DC, and gatherings in Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, and Nebraska.

This year, we are also encouraging our chapters to host programming focused on the foundational constitutional rights embodied in the First Amendment, including freedom of speech, assembly, petition, and religion, that are essential for a responsive and representative democracy. Our Program Guide, The First Amendment in Flux, offers a sobering survey of the challenges to our First Amendment rights posed by a U.S. Supreme Court controlled by a conservative supermajority, a U.S. President that has demonstrated a dismissive attitude towards the rights of those whom he views as his political or ideological enemies, and the many states whose legislatures, judiciaries, and executives are controlled by one party that seek to impose political hegemony. But by highlighting these challenges, we are providing to the lawyers and law students who make up the backbone of ACS's membership the context to advocate for change.

ACS continues our public education efforts through programming like our Annual Supreme Court Preview, which will take place on Monday, September 29, and a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and the First Amendment event on Wednesday, October 1, that will feature practitioners from across the country sharing how they have successfully used freedom of speech and association arguments to defend DEI programs and exploring opportunities for First Amendment strategies to strengthen DEI programs going forward. You can register for both using the links here and here.

ACS is also partnering with a coalition of organizations, including Public Citizen, The Task Force for American Democracy, bar associations, veterans and educator organizations, on a Constitution Day of Action to amplify a collective voice for democracy, justice, and the rule of law.

In this moment, when the power of our Constitution to protect the vulnerable and achieve positive change seems to be at its nadir, it can feel easier to just let Constitution Day go by unremarked. But now is the moment when your commitment to the ideals of the Constitution is most needed. This Constitution Day, take action-become a member of ACS, get active in your local or student chapter, volunteer for Constitution in the Classroom, our Notice and Comment Project, or one of our other volunteer projects.

ACS is committed to a transformative vision of the Constitution that will not just return us to a past status quo but will lead us to a more just, equitable, and fully participatory democracy, and we invite you to join us in making that vision a reality.

Constitutional Interpretation, Executive Order, Rule of Law