FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACTS: Ashley Berke Lauren Saul Director of Public Relations Public Relations Manager 215.409.6693 215.409.6895 [email protected] [email protected]

HEALTH CARE REFORM'S BIG TEST: COMMERCE AND THE CONSTITUTION

TOP LEGAL EXPERTS JOIN THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER TO DISCUSS THE IMPACT AND CONSTITUTIONAL CONSEQUENCES OF UPCOMING SUPREME COURT HEALTH CARE RULING

Philadelphia, PA (May 21, 2012) – By the last week of June, the U.S. Supreme Court must issue its decision on the constitutionality of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act – considered by some as the most important ruling since Bush v. Gore and Roe v. Wade. As the nation awaits the verdict, the National Constitution Center’s Peter Jennings Project and the Constitutional Sources Project (ConSource) will present a timely program about the potential game changing impact of this pivotal ruling and the effect it will have on the upcoming presidential election. Award-winning journalist John Hockenberry and distinguished law professors Jack Balkin of Yale Law School and Randy Barnett of Georgetown Law Center will explore both sides of the decision, as well as the real-world consequences it will have on the Constitution, Congressional authority, and other legislation built on Commerce Clause power.

This event will take place on Wednesday, June 6, 2012. Admission is $7 for members, students and teachers; $10 for non-members; and FREE for 1787 Society members. Reservations are required and can be made online at www.constitutioncenter.org or by calling 215.409.6700.

Many speculate that the decision will be narrow, likely dividing the Court 5-4, but whether or not the justices find the Affordable Care Act to be unconstitutional, they will need to clarify and define the limits of Congress' power under the Commerce Clause. -MORE- ADD ONE/COMMERCE AND THE CONSTITUTION

Jack Balkin is Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment at Yale Law School and the founder and director of Yale's Information Society Project – an interdisciplinary center that studies law and new information technologies.

Randy Barnett is the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory at the Georgetown University Law Center, as well as a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and the Goldwater Institute. He has been a key legal thinker developing the case against the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate.

John Hockenberry is an Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning journalist. He is co-host of WNYC and PRI’s “” and has served as host or correspondent for “,” “,” and “Talk of the Nation” on NPR; “Day One” and “ Sunday” on ABC News; and “Edgewise,” “Hockenberry,” and “Dateline NBC” on NBC News.

About ConSource The mission of the Constitutional Sources Project (ConSource.org) is to increase understanding, facilitate research, and encourage discussion of the U.S. Constitution by connecting individuals – including students, teachers, lawyers and judges – with the documentary history of its creation, ratification, and amendment. To that end, ConSource.org is building the preeminent online resource for Constitutional research and education. Continually expanding in scope, it provides free public access to what is fast becoming the world’s most comprehensive online library of source documents related to the U.S. Constitution.

ConSource also is using the latest technology to create unique research communities tailored to meet the specific needs of scholars and authors, legal practitioners and government officials, educators and students, journalists and the general public. ConSource invites all of its users to create learning environments that fit their individualized research needs while allowing for collaboration with others.

-MORE-

ADD TWO/COMMERCE AND THE CONSTITUTION

About the National Constitution Center The National Constitution Center is the first and only nonprofit, nonpartisan institution devoted to the most powerful vision of freedom ever expressed: the U.S. Constitution. Located on Independence Mall in Historic Philadelphia, the birthplace of American freedom, the Center illuminates constitutional ideals and inspires active citizenship through a state-of-the-art museum experience, including hundreds of interactive exhibits, films and rare artifacts; must-see feature exhibitions; the internationally acclaimed, 360- degree theatrical production Freedom Rising; and the iconic Signers' Hall, where visitors can sign the Constitution alongside 42 life-size, bronze statues of the Founding Fathers. As America's forum for constitutional dialogue, the Center engages diverse, distinguished leaders of government, public policy, journalism and scholarship in timely public discussions and debates. The Center also houses the Annenberg Center for Education and Outreach, the national hub for constitutional education, which offers cutting-edge civic learning resources both onsite and online. Freedom is calling. Answer it at the National Constitution Center. For more information, call 215.409.6700 or visit www.constitutioncenter.org. ###