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On September 17 – 235 years completed Since the signing of the Constitution— We celebrate Constitution Day. Or at least some of us do. The first day of Constitution Day, called “I am an American Day,” drew people who celebrated enthusiastically with speeches and songs. Nowadays, the holiday goes largely unnoticed. Others use it as an excuse to criticize our governing document — the longest-surviving government charter in the world.
Whether it’s because the document “limits democracy” or thwarts popular efforts to incorporate racial politics into the law, hating the Constitution has become so common that the New York Times recently suggested the document is “dangerous,” “broken,” and “must not be revoked.” Who knew that universal and timeless principles such as equality before the law, due process, civil rights, and limited, enumerated powers could be so controversial?
Contrary to critics, The worst injustices in our country’s history have occurred when the government has deviated from the original meaning of the Constitution. Consider Plessy v. Ferguson, Korematsu v. United States, and Buck v. Bell. Each case is a stain in our country’s legal history, and each resulted because the Supreme Court deviated from the text of the Constitution.
Rare copy of US Constitution found in old filing cabinet to be auctioned
There is no need to summarize Plessy; it is one of the most well-known and universally hated cases in history. Homer Plessy’s trial began when he was arrested for refusing to move from a whites-only railway car. He challenged Louisiana’s Separate Car Act, which mandated segregated railway cars, arguing that it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The US Constitution remains strong even after 235 years. It only faces problems when judges deviate from its original purpose. (SPXChrome)
But by a vote of 8-1, the Supreme Court upheld Plessy’s conviction and upheld the principle that separate is equal. “Laws permitting, and even requiring, segregation do not necessarily imply the inferiority of any race to another,” Justice Henry Brown wrote. Only one justice dissented.
It took 58 years and the tireless efforts of civil rights heroes like Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall to overturn Plessy’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education. There, the Court unanimously held what the Constitution had required all along: “segregation is inherently unequal” and requires segregation.
Korematsu v. United States represents another gross injustice. In the wake of Pearl Harbor, Democrat President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order that led to the internment of more than 120,000 people of Japanese descent, two-thirds of whom were American citizens. After being arrested and convicted for refusing to obey the expulsion order, Fred Korematsu challenged his conviction in court. But the Supreme Court upheld Roosevelt’s order because it was a “military necessity.”
Three justices dissented. In perhaps the most famous dissenting opinion, Justice Robert Jackson wrote that Korematsu “was convicted of an act which is not ordinarily recognized as a crime. It consists merely of being present in the State of which he is a citizen, near the place where he was born, and where he has spent his entire life.”
In another dissent, Justice Frank Murphy called deportation orders “the legalization of racism.” The Supreme Court did not officially correct its mistake until 2018, when Chief Justice Roberts wrote, “Korematsu was gravely wrong on the day it was decided.”
Buck v. Bell, though less well known, is no less serious. In that case, Carrie Buck was admitted to a mental institution and forcibly sterilized at age 18. Her mental age was 9, but one of her physicians claimed she was a danger to society. In court, Buck’s lawyers argued that the law denied her due process and equal protection.
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Buck lost in every court that heard her case, including the Supreme Court. Writing for the majority, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. remarked that the “feeble-minded” Buck was the daughter of a “feeble-minded” woman and the mother of a “feeble-minded child.”
They dismissed his constitutional arguments as contrary to the “public welfare.” According to Holmes, “Three generations of fools are enough.” Unlike the previous two cases, Buck was never officially overturned, although subsequent cases have weakened its strength.
It took 58 years and the tireless efforts of civil rights heroes like Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall to overturn Plessy’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education. There, the Court unanimously held what the Constitution had required all along: “segregation is inherently unequal” and requires segregation.
The critics are right — the Constitution is against majoritarianism; it also limits democracy when majorities seek to sterilize those they perceive as vulnerable. And yes, the Constitution abhors race-conscious government action — even those considered benign or vital to national security. But in retrospect, our country could have benefited from a greater commitment to individual rights and skepticism toward race-conscious lawmaking.
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Constitution Day is a good time to recognize the virtues of this document. Those who complain that the Constitution “gave birth to President Trump” might consider all the ways it limited his authority while in office. Those who complain about the Constitution’s protections for free speech might acknowledge America’s past disastrous attempts to restrict expressions they dislike and the ways the Constitution has been passed down.
The Constitution’s popularity may rise and fall, but its meaning and importance do not change. When the government attempts to punish people for being born with the “wrong” skin color or deny people fair processes or basic civil rights, the Constitution will be there whether we celebrate it or not.
