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Show BILL OF RIGHTS Bill of Rights Is a Precious Heritage and a Solemn Trust ing fathers so wisely attached to the constitution of the United States to safeguard our civil liberties. Freedom of speech, press, assembly and religion, together with the guarantee guar-antee of fair trial, due process and equality before the law, form the This Is the first of a series of three articles on the Bill of Rights and Bill of Rights Day which will be celebrated December 15. December 15, Bill of Rights Day, commemorates the one hundred and fifty-ninth anniversary of the most important document in American Amer-ican history. As every school child learns, the Bill of Rights comprises the first 10 amendments our found- cornerstone of democratic government. govern-ment. Now, as never before, our democracy democ-racy is being challenged. Anti-democratic forces often hide behind the protection of the Bill of Rights, hoping to frighten us into curbing our civil liberties, the first step toward to-ward totalitarian rule. Being fully aware of their insidious purpose, we must preserve these liberties, even for those whose opinions we detest. TO REMIND AMERICANS of tneir precious neriiage in tne am of Rights, and to renew the faith of free men everywhere, the American Ameri-can Civil Liberties Union is planning plan-ning a nationwide program of publicity pub-licity through the press, radio, television tele-vision and magazines. Featured in this program will be a newspaper survey of the current status of civil liberties in the country's largest cities, a documentary drama broadcast broad-cast over the National Broadcasting Company network and a series of articles in leading national magazines. maga-zines. The American Civil Liberties Union is also sponsoring a contest in cooperation with the National Association of Educational Broadcasters, Broad-casters, for the best college radio script on civil liberties. Today the Bill of Rights takes on new world significance as one of democracy's proudest achievements. achieve-ments. Only by continuous support of both the word and spirit of the Bill of Rights can we insure the heritage of freedom for our children child-ren and furnish the best argument for universal acceptance of the democratic way of life. |