A picture of the U.S. Constitution on top of a U.S. Flag

Constitution Day

&

Citizenship Day

For more public domain images of the Constitution visit the National Archives


September 17th: Each year Constitution Day and Citizenship Day is observed on September 17 to commemorate the signing of the Constitution in 1787. The Department of Social Sciences at the College of Southern Nevada has produced a series of lectures to commemorate this day (see below). 


In 2004 under Senator Byrd's urging, Congress changed the designation of this day to "Constitution Day and Citizenship Day" and added the requirement that each educational institution which receives Federal funds should commemorate September 17th each year. [It should also be noted that September 17-23 was dedicated as Constitution Week through a Congressional resolution in 1956]


Read More at the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services

This day has its origins in a Congressional joint resolution in 1940 requesting the President to issue a proclamation setting aside the third Sunday in May for the recognition of all who had attained American citizenship.  In 1952, Congress repealed this resolution and passed a law moving the date to September 17th. This law urged authorities of states, counties, cities and towns to make plans for the observance of the day.


Read More about the history of this day here

Video Lectures:

We hope you find the following videos produced for the 2024 Constitution Day interesting and useful


Culley v. Marshall (2024) & Civil Forfeiture Law

Dr. Michael Hart, from the College of Southern Nevada, discusses

Culley v. Marshall (2024) and

the Due Process Clause 

U.S. v. Rahimi (2024) and the 2nd Amendment

Dr. Francis Carleton, from the College of Southern Nevada, provides an analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Rahimi (2024).

Marbury v. Madison (1803) & Judicial Review

Dr. Kenneth Fernandez, from the College of Southern Nevada, discusses the story behind the Supreme Court's power of judicial review