Gilbert Holmes, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, spoke to Franklin College students about the importance of understanding the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in relation to today’s society.
“I think it’s critical for anyone who wants to be a good citizen to understand the Constitution and the Bill of Rights,” Holmes said, “and doing so they learn about their own rights and they also learn about how that relates towards the community and helps them to make decisions in their lives.”
Holmes discussed multiple aspects of the ACLU in Indiana and some of the misconceptions people have regarding the work that they do.
In regards to the recent Texas preacher threatening to burn copies of the Qur’an, Holmes said he received a call from a distraught mother who wanted the ACLU to stop the preacher. The mother’s two sons are serving in Afghanistan, and she feared increased danger could be caused by the burning.
He said it was difficult to try to describe to the woman that the preacher had the freedom to do so, and the preacher was protected under Constitutional rights.
As far as the ACLU’s mission, Holmes described it as being very simple.
“To protect and defend the Constitutional rights guaranteed by the First Amendment, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights,” he said.
He also discussed that the ACLU is very prominent in litigation, which they are most known for.
Holmes said they lack in advocacy, education and outreach, and especially toward trying to right the misconceptions that the general public may have regarding why the ACLU defends the people they do.
“There are people who think that the Constitution only applies to ‘me and not you’, or ‘my views, not yours,’” Holmes said.
Senior David Wesche attended the lecture and said Holmes’s presentation changed some of his preconceptions that ACLU helps people who should not be helped. Wesche said Holmes reminded him that it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that during the heat of an argument everyone has Constitutional rights.
“I think more people should have come because I think more people think the ACLU supports bad people,” Wesche said, “when in all actuality, you may not agree with what they’re doing, but they live in America. The Constitution applies to every American, and that’s the way it goes.”
This story was first published on TheFranklinOnline.com
http://www.thefranklinonline.com/campus_news/article/holmes_speaks_of_importance_in_understanding_constitution_bill_of_rights
