I am behind in blogging. Here's a report from a Constitution Day forum I attended at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma. The panel consisted of 3 judges(J) and one state legislator(L).

Q: what is the most striking feature of the Constitution in your opinion?
J: it is enforcable against the government
J: it is adaptable and flexible
J: its balance between liberties and police powers
L: it is a guarantor of rights , not a grantee of rights

Q: what is the role of states today, given their decrease in power?
J: there are natural ups and downs in the relation of power, someday the states will be up again
J: there is a balance in the system
J: Rehquist began a continuing process of moving power back to the states
L: we in the states are addicted to Federal $, and until that changes, the Feds will be supreme

Q: what about illegal immigration?
J: the situation is "total lawlessness" and we cannot long stand lawlessness in such an important area of our nation's life
J: we cannot stand the undermining of the rule of law; the rule of law is why people come here in the first place
J; how do we enforce immigration without upsetting the balance of police power and liberty in favor of police power?
L: by the Constitution it is a Federal problem, not a state problem

Q: what about terrorist wiretaps under the Patriot Act?
J: an established illegality, being delayed in reaching the Supreme Court
J: be afraid
J: ?
L: a Federal government authority, but I don't want our children to get blown up