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SLC attorney urges involvement in Constitutional

By CARMEN DURLAN

By becoming an interpreter of the U.S. Constitution, people can change their lifestyle and alter their society, said the Salt Lake School District's attorney in a speech before BYU students and members of the Federalist Society Thursday.

Byron Fisher, a partner in Fabian & Clendenin, a law firm in Salt Lake City, told students to get involved in practicing law and making a difference.

'I spend my professional life inside the Constitution. I spend my day applying the law and determining whether we have met the requirements of the Constitution.

Fisher presented example cases and asked audience members to apply appropriate laws and make decisions.

The toughest case example was the formation of non-curricular, controversial clubs, Fisher said. These would include gay rights clubs, gambling clubs or Satanic worship clubs.

'There are those who say, 'why, even with the freedom of speech, should we not permit students (and) children, to discuss the value or the non-value of alternative lifestyles as described (here)?'' Fisher said.

More than just determining what students can discuss, another issue is that of school districts being forced to decide which clubs can exist, advertise or schedule a room in the school to meet, Fisher said.

Fisher posed the question of a club's purpose in school and asked the audience, 'What are you going to permit in your school district for your children? Do they have a right to an alternative lifestyle in a club setting?'

'Maybe we should teach the Constitution and extol its virtues, and memorize the Bill of Rights, and then not practice any of its mandates, not interpret any of it today for (what) it dictates to today's concerns.'