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Editor’s note: This is a regular feature on issues related to the Constitution and civics education written by Paul G. Summers, retired judge and state attorney general. The U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of America. Amendments are part of the Constitution. The first ten Amendments, or Bill of Rights, were submitted to the state legislatures in 1789 and ratified in 1791. Our Constitution provides for three separate branches of government: legislative, executive and judicial. The first two are political; the judiciary is not. Judges must be independent; follow the rule of law; and act as checks and balances on abuse of power by any branch. The Supreme Court ultimately decides whether a law or activity of any of the three branches of government comports with the Constitution. The independence of the third branch is the crown jewel of our democratic republic. Amendment I says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” We Americans must always strive to keep that crown […]