Show 0 t d the WEEKLY I iA CONSTITUTIONAL i CONS TIT UTI ONAL I II I fry MAX BERNS I Preserving Our Our- Rights I Does our Constitution protect our Individual rights Our Constitution states and defines our gur rights and liberties But all nU history his tory tort and our own experience shows this Is fa not enough Accordingly our Constitution provides for Cor and empowers empowers em powers Jowers our Courts to protect u us In these rights and liberties This n aplies ap ap- o 1 lies not only to the tha federal government govern ment but also to state governments For example the legislature in one ODO state passed a law curtailing freedom of oC the press one state defied de do cried fied the right of oC freedom of speech one state passed a law making illegal ille gal sal the free tree exercise of or religion ono state passed a law to take your property property from Crom you without Just compensation com one state convicted three men ruen nen of oC murder with no other av evi evi- confessions ence than extorted py y beating strangulation and other brutal treatment by the authorities In each of or th those these e Ins Instances lances and In Inmany Inmany Inmany many others the cases were brought to the Supreme Court of or the United States tates which upon hearing bearing the evidence evi en fence dence ence found that the rights pro pro- vided In our Constitution had been denied enle o o the citizens ns in question I and therefore declared these acts act unconstitutional Our Constitution states sUites and defines defines de fines our rights and liberties but Inthe Inthe in inthe the hands of ot unscrupulous j f tors tore it becomes merely a scrap scrap of oil oilpaper I paper without some agency like our a Quite if Slates lales Supreme Court whose duty it 1 Is II to to see that our individual l rights and I f liberties are not denied dented us either by bythe bythe the federal government or by state governments ts i i Next Week A etA Scrap of Paper Copyright 1936 by Max Bern Berni |