Student group takes the Constitution seriously

As an intelligence specialist with the U.S. Air Force in Afghanistan, John Jones experienced the country's culture first-hand. He began to see the war on terror in a different light - as unconstitutional.

Now, as a freshman at the University of New Hampshire, Jones is looking to share his views on government control, individual rights and the importance of the Constitution with other students.

He is doing this through the UNH Chapter of the Young Americans for Liberty, a national organization that seeks to educate students on the ideals of liberty and the Constitution.
 "As a group, we stand for individual liberties, economic freedom, and protecting what the Founding Fathers intended," Jones said.

According to UNH freshman Alex Peterson, a veteran of the war in Iraq and another member of the UNH Young Americans for Liberty, most Americans have become apathetic and do not realize when the government does things that are unconstitutional.

"We are losing our liberties and it's our fault that this has happened – it's our apathy," Peterson said. 

It is this apathy that Christopher Alix, another member of the group, said the Young Americans for Liberty are hoping to change among UNH students.

Like Jones, Alix said it was his time spent with the military overseas that shaped his views on government control, the Constitution and the rights of individuals.

"I got to spend some ‘quality time' in countries where the people had very few rights and lived in fear of expressing their opinion," Alix said.  "This gave me a new perspective on how much we take for granted in the U.S. I believe that as the government grows and becomes more powerful, it takes away our freedom in little pieces, and many people don't even realize that it's happening."

Jones agreed, saying that many citizens are not aware that the Constitution does not give the federal government the right to rule on many of today's most commonly debated issues, such as abortion and gay marriage.

"The Tenth Amendment says that any power not directly stated as being given to the federal government is given to the states or individuals," Jones said.  "So if there is nothing about it in the Constitution, like with abortion, the feds have no right to make that decision."
Jones also said that unless a state's constitution specifically gives that government power over issues such as abortion, the power to decide is left to the individual.

    According to another member of Young Americans for Liberty, Emily O'Neill, many people are not aware of this individual right to make such decisions.

    "To be an informed citizen and be educated on your rights—that is necessary," O'Neill said.

That is also the goal of Young Americans for Liberty who began to educate UNH students on September 17 through their celebration of Constitution Day, during which they handed out free booklets containing the Constitution, Bill of Rights and the Articles of Confederation.

They also set up a "Constitution board" that students could write on, describing situations where they felt their rights had been violated by the government.

According to Peterson, the group plans on sponsoring many more events on campus in the following weeks to continue to educate students on the rights given to them by the Constitution.

"We are going to have a retired state police officer come to campus who is a big constitutionalist," Peterson said.  "He is going to do role playing with students involving being pulled over so students understand their rights in that situation." 

Jones said that since the Young Americans for Liberty are a non-partisan group, they hope to collaborate with other UNH student organizations in the future, specifically the College Democrats and College Republicans.

"We want to reach out to them and mend some bridges," Jones said. 

President of the College Democrats, UNH senior Erin Thesing, said she agrees on the importance of the Constitution and its ideals.

"The Constitution and the ideals it sets forth are the bedrock upon which our nation was founded…students need to be reminded each and every day of liberties we too often take for granted," Thesing said.  "As a group, the College Democrats are working to implement those ideals through tangible policy that can make positive differences in the everyday lives of Americans... I am glad to hear that Young Students for Liberty are interested in working with us on issues that so closely affect UNH students."  

    Still, despite the various issues facing Americans today, the main focus of Young Americans for Liberty is protecting the Constitutional ideals laid out by the Founding Fathers and working to keep the power of the federal government within constitutional limits.

"The government controls too much in my opinion," said Alix.  "All of these bailouts, federally funded programs, and spending packages basically tell taxpayers that the government knows how to use their money better than they do."

"Basically, the Bill of Rights is being systematically dismantled," said Jones.

Peterson said he hopes that more students join the Young Americans for Liberty in the coming weeks, and work to protect individual rights.

"We need to represent our state's motto and be a model for the rest of the country," Peterson said.  "Hopefully we can change things."