This is a series of fifteen half-hour documentary programs on the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution, produced between 1981 and 1983 by the Pacifica Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation. Each self-contained program examines the Bill of Rights from a legal, historical, philosophical and ethical point of view. The programs demonstrate the difficult conflicts inherent in this important document, and the lasting relevance of our Constitutional freedoms and guarantees. The series was executive produced by Peabody award-winner Adi Gevins, with Ira Glasser, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, as the principal advisor.
The series covers the following topics: the right to bear arms; censorship; Native American land claims and the deprivation of property without due process of law; prayer in public schools and freedom of religion; cruel and unusual punishment; public libraries and controversial books; sex education in the public schools; freedom of religion in prisons; abortion; national security and the First Amendment; cults and the Constitution; television cameras in courtrooms; prejudice in the application of the Bill of Rights; constitutional aspects of the insanity plea.
Producers of individual episodes include Ginna Allison; Deborah Amos; Geri Calkins-Pizzi; Laurie Garrett; Adi Gevins; Amina Hassan; Richard Mahler; Kathy McAnally; Patricia Neighmond; Anita Parlow; John Rieger; Marie Ritzo; Andrew Ross; David Selvin; Peggy Stein; Michael Yoshida. Marie Ritzo, associate producer ; Anita Parlow, research associate ; David Selvin, project engineer.
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