When a panel of Kansas appellate court judges hears arguments on three cases next week, they won’t be in the normal courtroom setting.

Instead, the hearings will take place on the Kansas University campus at the Dole Institute of Politics, and students and members of the public are invited to attend. It’s part of KU’s annual Constitution Day activities.

“These cases were chosen because we thought they would present interesting constitutional issues for the students,” Kansas Court of Appeals Judge Steve Leben said in a statement. “The constitutional rights we all share are tested daily in cases like these.”

Leben and judges G. Joseph Pierron Jr. and Michael B. Buser will hear the three cases beginning at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 15 in the Simons Media Room of the institute, 2350 Petefish Drive, on KU’s West Campus.

The cases involve a car owner’s challenge to the constitutionality of a statute under which his Lexus automobile was forfeited based on its use in two drug sales worth $250; a father’s challenge to his conviction for battery against his son in what the father claimed was a parental dispute; and a case in which the state appealed a trial judge’s determination that a police officer violated a citizen’s constitutional rights.

All three cases originated in Johnson County, according to the docket.

The court won’t immediately issue rulings in the cases, but the judges will be available afterward to talk with students and the public.

Court spokesman Ron Keefover said the court plans to have hearings at Washburn University and Kansas State University as well.

Congress has directed by law that federally funded educational institutions host educational events about the U.S. Constitution each year on or about Sept. 17, the anniversary of the Constitution’s signing in 1787.