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Video: Bill Of Rights Day Book Festival

December 15, 2016

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On Thursday, December 15, 2016, we presented four live stream video programs related to the 225th anniversary of the Bill of Rights.

If you want to watch the replays, here are the events:

Preserving and Protecting America’s Founding Documents

What happens when priceless artifacts are threatened by theft or damage? How have copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and more survived through the years? Stephen Puleo, author of American Treasures, and Nancy Moses, author of Stolen, Smuggled, Sold, share the little-known stories behind the efforts to preserve humanity’s cultural heritage. Charles Cullen, interim president and CEO of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, moderates.

Is the Second Amendment Under Assault?

David Keene, former president of the National Rifle Association and co-author of Shall Not Be Infringed, provides his take on the history of the gun control debate in America – including the battles fought in the courts, the media, and even the United Nations. Tom Donnelly, senior fellow in constitutional studies at the National Constitution Center, moderates.

The Death Penalty and the Constitution

Does the death penalty violate the Constitution? John Bessler, editor of Against the Death Penalty (by Stephen Breyer) and Carol Steiker and Jordan Steiker, authors of Courting Death: The Supreme Court and Capital Punishment, trace the unusual history of judicial regulation of capital punishment and offer their take on whether or not the death penalty violates the U.S. Constitution. Michael Gerhardt, scholar-in-residence at the National Constitution Center, moderates.

The Constitution Today: Timeless Lessons for the Issues of Our Era

Leading legal scholar Akhil Reed Amar addresses the biggest and most bitterly contested debates of the last two decades and provides a passionate handbook for thinking constitutionally about today’s headlines as described in his forthcoming book, The Constitution TodayJeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates.

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