ASU’s Constitution Day program features Federal District Court Judge Brian S. Miller Sept. 21

Sept. 16, 2009 --  Arkansas State University-Jonesboro’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences invites ASU students and faculty and selected area high school students to join in observing the 5th Annual Constitution Day Monday, September 21.  The program will begin at 9 a.m. in Centennial Hall of the ASU’s Reng Student Services Center/Student Union, 101 N. Caraway Road, Jonesboro, with a keynote address by Judge Brian S. Miller of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Other activities will follow at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. on the third floor of ASU’s Reng Student Services Center/Student Union.

Associate Justice David Souter provided the inspiration for this year’s morning-long Celebration in Learning. As he stepped down from the U.S. Supreme Court this summer, Justice Souter lamented how little otherwise well-informed individuals know about the federal courts, how they operate, and their value to this nation’s social and political order. To address this issue, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences has made Article III of the Constitution the focus of this year’s activities.

The program will begin at 9 a.m. in Centennial Hall of the ASU Student Union with a keynote address by Judge Brian S. Miller of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Born in Pine Bluff, Judge Miller served eight years in the United States Navy. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Arkansas in 1992 and his law degree from Vanderbilt University in 1995. His legal career has included service as the City Attorney for Helena, Arkansas, and as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for Phillips County. Elected to the Arkansas Court of Appeals in 2007, Miller did not remain in that position for long. In 2008, President George W. Bush nominated him to a vacancy on the Federal District Court and the U.S. Senate confirmed his appointment. Judge Miller has served as a Federal District Judge for the last eighteen months. For Constitution Day he will speak on the topic, “Concerning Article III: The Federal Courts and American Society.”

The opening talk will be followed by a variety of activities at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. on the third floor of the ASU Student Union. Students may choose to discuss “The Bill of Rights and You,” using colorful applications from case law; test their knowledge of the judicial branch and its structure and functions; attend a roundtable that draws on the expertise of ASU faculty members and local lawyers; or learn about judicial procedure from the members of the ASU Moot Court Team, who will provide a brief demonstration of an oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court.

This year’s program commemorates the 222nd anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution. Faculty members are invited to bring their Monday morning classes. “We also hope, said Dr. Richard Wang, chair and professor of the Department of Political Science, “that a large number of individual students will decide to attend.”

For further information, contact Dr. Richard Wang (rwang@astate.edu) at (870) 972-3048, or Dr. Ruth Owens (rsupko@astate.edu), interim associate dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, at (870) 972-3973.

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