photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Kansas Court of Appeals Judge Jacy Hurst helps a young student with pronunciation while he reads from the U.S. Constitution Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

Kansas Appeals Court Judge Jacy Hurst drew more than a few chuckles Monday as she repeatedly — and a bit scornfully — emphasized the word “male” while reading aloud from the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Hurst was participating in a public reading of all 7,591 words of the Constitution — including its seven articles and 27 amendments — at the Douglas County Courthouse along with local students, judges, attorneys, Sons of the American Revolution and others.

The amendment Hurst was reading, the 14th, ratified in 1868 after the Civil War, is among the most consequential of the amendments because it effectively made the Bill of Rights applicable to the states and spelled out the rights of due process and equal protection under the law, among others.

Hurst was reading from Section 2 of the amendment, which discusses the right to vote as belonging to 21-year-old “male” persons — a word that she inflected all three times that it appears in the section — to audible laughter in the courtroom.

Hurst noted that this provision was wiped out by the 19th Amendment, ratified 52 years later, which gave women the right to vote — one significant reminder, among many Monday, that our country’s 236-year-old governing document is not written in stone, but lives and changes.

Another important reminder to some students in attendance: That same section that spoke of a 21-year-old voting age was supplanted by the 26th Amendment in 1971, which changed the voting age to 18.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

A student reads from the U.S. Constitution Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

A number of students at Monday’s event were of (or near) voting age, including Bishop Seabury Academy seniors, some of whom will be able to vote in their first presidential election in November.

Other participants from Cordley Elementary and Raintree Montessori were a good 8 to 10 years from that rite of citizenship, their young heads barely clearing the top of the lectern as they read from the Bill of the Rights, sometimes requiring a pronunciation assist on words like “abridge” and “peaceably” from a nearby judge.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Raintree Montessori students recite the Preamble to the Constitution from memory Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

A group of students from Raintree kicked off the reading with a memorized recitation of the Constitution’s preamble. That’s the “We the people” part, which Chief Judge James McCabria said was his favorite part because it firmly “put government in the hands of the people.”

McCabria told the students that he welcomed the opportunity to have community members celebrate the Constitution in a public reading.

“It’s what we do every day while we’re in session,” he said, referring to the work of the Douglas County judges, several of whom participated in the reading. “We’re always operating within the parameters of the Constitution.”

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Judge Amy Hanley, left, and Judge Stacey Donovan were among those reading from the U.S. Constitution Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

Judge Stacey Donovan, whose courtroom hosted the reading, said Constitution Day “is always such a good reminder of how proud I am to work in this building, in this community.”

She noted, as did Judge Amy Hanley, the range of people and ages involved in the event, but the eager participation of young people was especially meaningful to them both.

“Constitution Day is always a great reminder of the importance of our government — where it all began, and our responsibilities as leaders and citizens,” Hanley said. “I enjoyed having our local schools involved and watching so many children who were excited to read the Constitution. One of the best ways to honor our Constitution is to honor our young people, the future.”

The young people, for their part, were glad of the opportunity to get in front of a judge or two.

“I liked going up in front of the important people there and saying the things that we know,” Eleanore Backer, a Raintree fifth-grader, said.

In addition to participating in the reading, the students also got to tour the courthouse and chat with some judges about the history and importance of the Constitution, which Raintree teacher Dayle Dryer especially appreciated.

“Civics education is extremely important,” she said, especially in this election year, and any chance for kids to learn about American democracy and to feel it touch their lives is crucial to a connected citizenry.

For some of the kids, the most fun part of the day was seeing the Sons of the American Revolution present the colors before reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

“It was fun to see the people whose ancestors were in the Revolutionary War and give them high fives,” Henry Hosek, a Raintree fifth-grader, said of meeting members of the Charles Robinson Chapter of SAR.

Douglas County Commissioner Karen Willey, who read several portions of the Constitution, called the event “a meaningful celebration of our nation’s journey,” while Raintree fourth-grader Mofetolu Wintoki touted a smaller but still very meaningful journey: the journey to the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

“It was certainly an experience,” Mofetolu said. “I’ve never been to a courthouse before.”

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Students were given gavel-shaped pencils Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Douglas County District Attorney Suzanne Valdez, far right, stands in line to read from the U.S. Constitution Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Judge Blake Glover reads from the U.S. Constitution Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Douglas County Commissioner Karen Willey reads from the U.S. Constitution Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Attorney Jessica Glendening reads from the U.S. Constitution Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Chief Judge James McCabria addresses students about the U.S. Constitution Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Raintree Montessori teacher Dayle Dryer leads her students into the courtroom Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Raintree Montessori students talk with Sons of the American Revolution, Charles Robinson Chapter, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Raintree Montessori students get high-fives from Sons of the American Revolution, Charles Robinson Chapter, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Judge Carl Folsom helps a student read from the U.S. Constitution Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, at the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.