NMU observes Constitution Day with forum on Hobby Lobby case

MARQUETTE — The U.S. Constitution is the world’s oldest written charter for a national government to still be in use today. It was signed on today’s date in 1787, and as a result, September 17th has become a federal holiday called Constitution Day.

Northern Michigan University held a constitutional forum. Faculty members addressed the U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing Hobby Lobby and other corporations that aren’t publicly traded to opt out of the Affordable Care Act because of religious preferences.

“(This is a) hot topic, controversial, but it gives us a chance to dialogue over the Constitution,” NMU political science department head Dr. Carter Wilson said. “Educational institutions are required by federal law to put on some sort of program on Constitution Day.”

Constitution Day was created as a holiday in 2004.

The Hobby Lobby case has spawned an ongoing public debate about the scope and limit of human rights and religious freedom.