Libertarians plan celebration for Bill of Rights Day - December 15th!

The 2003 Bill of Rights Day celebration will be held on December 15, 2003 at the Pennsylvania State Capitol between 1 and 2 PM. Cumberland, Dauphin, and York county Libertarians organized this event.

A wide range of organizations will be speaking on the importance of the Bill of Rights, including the Commonwealth Foundation, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Pennsylvania, National Rifle Association, and Libertarian Party candidates.

On December 15, 1791, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution were ratified by the states. These ten amendments, now known as the Bill of Rights, placed explicit limits on the power of the U.S. government. The Constitution of the United States would never have become the law of the land without the Bill of Rights. Several states refused to join the Union unless there was a Bill of Rights to limit federal government power and protect individual rights.

The Bill of Rights guarantees fundamental civil and human rights: the freedoms of speech, press, assembly, religion; protections against unreasonable searches and coerced confessions; rights to counsel and a jury trial. The Bill of Rights also defines the limits of government power in the 9th and 10th amendments. More directly than any other single document of law, the Bill of Rights protects individual liberty against the threat of government sponsored tyranny.

The Bill of Rights remains a beacon to freedom-loving people worldwide. Refugees flee to the United States, not for its "three separate branches of government," not for its arrangement of senators and representatives, but for its individual liberty. The foundation of that liberty is the Bill of Rights. People have struggled and fought for centuries to obtain these precious rights of individual liberty. On this anniversary Libertarians celebrate the legacy provided by our nation's founders, while at the same time reminding ourselves that these limitations on government power are under constant attack by those who want to use government to serve their special interests.

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