Constitutional issues are the basis for many of the cases handled by my office.  Whether it be a criminal due process issue or an issue of free expression, every matter that passes through this office emanates from some dealing with constitutional issues. 

Frequently, matters cross over from one area to another. Criminal and family law matters may give rise to civil rights concerns. Likewise, criminal matters dealing with rights of expression and/or artistic access implicate First Amendment concerns. 

Constitutional law is an ever evolving body of jurisprudence. The United States Constitution was set forth as a set of guiding principles. How the United States Constitution has changed over time requires both an excellent study of history and law. It is hardly the document that it portended to be less than 100 years ago. The federal judiciary continues to "discover" new principles in its re-reading, or rather, the current political state of affairs.

Modernly, many believe our constitutional ideals to be under attack. In fact, those ideas have always been under attack depending on who you are - or were.  The fact that "separate but equal" and the desegregation ruling of Brown v. Board of Education arise from the same Constitution is concrete evidence that the law is always subject to the whimsy of social and political currents. 

Many come to the law looking for rules written in defined statements. They soon find that those statements are written more in pastels and charcoal than in ball point ink. While the aim of the law might be just, its execution is frequently anti-climatic. The powerful control the law in terms of resources for litigation, as well as bias in the judicial forum. Justice is never blind. 

But, the power struggles of history have yielded benefits who saw them through and yielded benefits for those similarly situated. The principles of our Constitution are only retained through the ongoing fight for their preservation.