FARMINGTON — The University of Maine at Farmington celebrates Constitution Day with its sixth annual review of cases considered by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The event is at 11:45 a.m. Monday, Sept. 17, in Room C23 of Roberts Learning Center on the UMF campus. It will feature discussion of last term’s highlights and this term’s coming docket of U.S. Supreme Court cases.

Presented by Jim Melcher, UMF associate professor of political science and adviser for the UMF prelaw program, the event is free and open to the public.

U.S. Supreme Court cases included in the Constitution Day event:

* Review of opinions from past term: NFIB v. Sebelius, Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”); Arizona v. U.S., immigration enforcement; U.S. v. Alvarez, Stolen Valor Act/First Amendment; Florence v. Board of Freeholders, strip searches; and U.S. v. Jones, police tracking of criminal suspects.

* Review of cases to be considered in upcoming term: University of Texas v. Fisher, affirmative action and colleges; Arkansas Game and Fish Commission v. U.S., environmental regulation and the takings clause; Florida v. Harris/Florida v. Jardines, police dogs and drug searches; and Bailey v. U.S., detentions during search warrants.

One important case the Supreme Court might take is Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the United States House of Representatives v. Gill, same-sex marriage and the Defense of Marriage Act.

Opinions on last term’s cases can be found at www.supremecourtus.gov.

Previously known as Citizenship Day, Constitution Day was added to the name of the holiday by Congress in 2004. The federal holiday was revised to recognize not only those who have become U.S. citizens, but also the ratification of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787.

In addition to renaming the holiday, the act mandates that all publicly funded educational institutions provide educational programming on the history of the U.S. Constitution on that day.

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