Law School kicks off new journal

Lamenting American ignorance about the U.S. Constitution, Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell and American Civil Liberties Union President Nadine Strossen visited the Law School Wednesday to praise its new, electronic Journal of Constitutional Law. Calling the journal "a dream" that "represents the success not just of the students who wrote it but of the entire Penn community," third-year Law student and Journal Coordinating Editor Mike Gold introduced Rendell, who also cut the ribbon to the Journal's new office. Rendell connected the journal to the larger need for more scholarship and education about the Constitution. This need is also being met by the new National Constitution Center slated to be built on Independence Mall. The University is serving as the academic arm of the center, which is scheduled to begin construction September 17, 2000. He added that he hopes to give the Journal an office in the center. The Center is intended to fulfill two purposes -- educating Americans about the Constitution and building a new constitutional museum, according to Rendell, who received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University. "For the same reason that we need a Constitution center, we need this journal," Rendell said. Underscoring the necessity of the Constitution center, Rendell stressed that many Americans remain ignorant about the Constitution. In a recent poll, only one-third of Americans could name the three branches of the federal government. A mere 6 percent were able to name all of the rights listed in the First Amendment, Rendell said. "It is truly shocking," he added. "We have a lot of work to do." The ACLU's Strossen, who served as the keynote speaker at a dinner following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, noted that there are not enough similar journals in existence. Strossen said she was not surprised by the statistics Rendell gave. In a similar 1991 poll, Strossen said fewer than one-third of Americans polled could identify the Bill of Rights. "Public apathy and ignorance are the biggest threat to us," Strossen said. She added that the Journal should serve both to increase constitutional scholarship and help to educate the public. The Law School's fourth journal, The Journal of Constitutional Law just published its inaugural issue on the Internet. It is the school's first journal to be published electronically, although there are plans for a hard copy edition. "[The journal] is important to the Law School because the Law School and the University are committed to the study of American and democratic institutions," Law School Dean Colin Diver said. Gold said he came up with the idea of a constitutional law journal three years ago. He then met with Law Professor Barbara Bennett Woodhouse and several other students to develop a plan for the journal. "I hope [the journal] will help emphasize some of the history that helps make Philadelphia great," Gold said. Calling the journal a dream come true, Gold said the biggest challenge he faced was the time frame. Because he and his classmates knew they only had three years in Law School, it was a challenge to get the journal up and running quickly. The journal will solicit articles from members of its target audience -- constitutional scholars, lawyers, judges and students. The journal will also feature comments on these articles written by the student editors.

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