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Keywords: Constitution Day, Rutgers, 14th Amendment, Citizenship Day, ex-felons, voting rights, Supreme Court

Students and members of the Newark, N.J. community gathered at Rutgers University Newark to celebrate the fourth national U.S. Constitution Day. The day, also called Citizenship Day, commemorates Sept. 17, 1787, the day the U.S. Constitution was adopted by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

"First of all, this is a federal mandate. But beyond that, I think it's critical that young people who are learning concepts of government be engaged by a process where they can learn the effects of the constitution on everyday issues," says Marsha Brown, vice chancellor of student and community affairs at Rutgers University. 

But this year's celebration was more than the traditional reading of the constitution. Attendees were invited to take part in discussions focusing on this year's theme, "The Constitution of Denying Ex Offenders the Right to Vote."

Currently, there are 5 million ex-felons, the majority of whom are Black and Latino, unable to vote thanks to a 1972 Supreme Court decision.
 
"This is infringement. [The late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist] distorted the 14th Amendment and made it possible to disproportionately disfranchise such a large proportion of racial minorities," says Frank Askin, a law professor in the Rutgers University School of Law's Newark Campus and former general counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU]. "The Constitution says that all groups should have equal rights, but because of racial profiling, the political power of racial minorities is diluted."

And understanding one's rights is exactly the point Brown wants to drive home: "It's critical that young people are engaged where they are taught the what's more fundamental than one's right to vote," she says.

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