Explore The US Constitution With Judge Douglas Ginsburg

Celebrate Constitution Week
Three-Part Documentary Miniseries

A More or Less Perfect Union,
A Personal Exploration by Judge Douglas Ginsburg
Explores the U.S. Constitution

Airing on Public Television Nationwide
Sunday, Sept. 13

Selected by public television stations for special At-Home Learning programming because of its exceptional entertaining and educational value, the PBS series, A More or Less Perfect Union, A Personal Exploration by Judge Douglas Ginsburg, is returning to public television to celebrate Constitution Week. The three-part documentary series that explores the U.S. Constitution, and America’s past, present and future struggles for liberty, will air on World Channel on Sunday, September 13 starting at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m. Pacific (check local listings). Click here to see the entire nationwide broadcast schedule.

The episodes can also be streamed any time from the website of the Free To Choose Network. To make things easier, the Free To Choose Network has a channel service finder on their website, and this weekend, one of their team members will be on call to assist readers with the channel finder service. Most of the airings for Constitution Week will start on Sunday night. In Bangor, Maine the series will air on Sunday night, September 13 on PBS, WMEB, from 9 to 12 pm. It will be repeated on Monday, September 14 from 9 am to noon.

Hosted by Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg, a constitutional expert with 30 years of experience on the Federal Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., A More or Less Perfect Union features perspectives and interviews from constitutional experts of all stripes – liberal, conservative and libertarian – examining the key issues of liberty: freedom of religion and press, slavery and civil rights, the Second Amendment, separation of powers and more. To add context to the shaping of American governance, the series offers firsthand perspectives, including those of a diverse range of American citizens, direct descendants of those involved in pivotal civil rights cases, historians, constitutional experts, business owners and judges.
“An election year is the perfect time to talk about the Constitution, and Judge Ginsburg is the perfect person to get the conversation rolling,” said Free To Choose President/CEO, Robert Chatfield. “The Constitution is ours as a nation and we all have an interest in protecting it.”

Episode one, A Constitution in Writing, examines the struggles and compromises in the creation of the document that defines the United States of America. From the battlefield at Old Sturbridge Village and Boston Harbor in Massachusetts, to
Independence Hall in Philadelphia and the House of Burgesses in Virginia, Judge Ginsburg ponders: Were the powerful words used by the Framers meant to be updated by courts as our nation evolves, or only by following the amendment process specified in the Constitution itself? Constitutional experts, citizens and–in dramatic recreations, the Framers themselves–weigh in on the unique document, the rule of law, the three branches of government separated to prevent tyranny and the debate over originalism versus a living Constitution.

Episode two, A Constitution for All, explores constitutional amendments, including the Bill of Rights and amendments related to equal protection, slavery and voting rights through significant Supreme Court decisions including Dred Scott v. Sandford and several cases affecting LGBTQ rights, with interviews at locations ranging from the Whitney Plantation in Louisiana to the Newseum in Washington, D.C. Constitutional experts address hot-button historical and timely issues, including limits on rights of free speech, free press, bearing arms and individual protections such as due process during arrest and trial, unenumerated rights and unalienable rights.

For more than two centuries, Americans have fought to establish liberty, expand liberty and preserve liberty. A More or Less Perfect Union concludes with episode three, Our Constitution at Risk, which shows how the Constitution is under pressure today and how, through action or inaction, all three branches of government are contributing to the problem. Judge Ginsburg asks, “Are we ceding our rights so gradually that we don’t even know it is happening?” Topics explored include affirmative action, racial profiling, the commerce clause, eminent domain, executive orders, treaties and executive agreements, illuminated through interviews with the descendants of Plessy v. Ferguson, with constitutional experts, local business owners and others. Judge Ginsburg concludes, “The great safeguard of liberty is a government of laws and not of men. Our Constitution creates that government, but it works only if ‘we the people’ know the Constitution and protect it.”

To extend the conversation beyond the series, community engagement events across the U.S. will provide an opportunity for viewers to engage in conversations about the Constitution and related issues of governance. A companion book to the miniseries,
Voices of Our Republic, edited by Judge Ginsburg, will be available January 28, 2020, via Skyhorse. The book is a collection of personal essays and thoughts about the Constitution from judges, journalists, academics and everyday heroes, including
Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Neil Gorsuch and Sandra Day O’Connor, publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Alan Dershowitz, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and historians Joseph Ellis and Ron Chernow, along with Jack Nicklaus, Gene Simmons and many others.

A More or Less Perfect Union, A Personal Exploration by Judge Douglas Ginsburg is a production of Free to Choose Media in association with THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET. Jim Taylor is director. Barbara Potter is producer. Bob Chitester, Thomas Skinner and Robert Chatfield are executive producers.

Major funding is provided by the Diana Davis Spencer Foundation, The Dunn Foundation and Thomas Peterffy. Additional funding is provided by Judicial Education Project, C. Boyden Gray, Mrs. Richard Monroe Fairbanks III, Sarah Scaife Foundation and Fred M. Young, Jr.

About Douglas H. Ginsburg
Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg has heard more than 3,000 cases as one of the top appellate judges in the nation. Ginsburg was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 1986; he served as Chief Judge from 2001 to 2008. He received his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1973, and he clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall on the United States Supreme Court. He has been a professor at the Harvard Law School, Assistant U.S. Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and while on the bench he has taught at the University of Chicago and the New York University law schools. Judge Ginsburg is currently a Professor of Law at the Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University, and a visiting professor at University College London, Faculty of Laws.

About Free To Choose Media
Free To Choose Media produces award-winning documentaries and series for public television, offering diverse voices, powerful stories and a fresh perspective on a range of important global and national issues. For more than 30 years, Free To Choose production teams have traveled the world to explore topics and issues that stimulate thought and cultivate conversations. For more information, visit the website, at www.FreeToChooseMedia.org.