Course Title: THE BILL OF RIGHTS: ITS ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION
Course #: 19F03
Course Fee: $35 ($5 early bird discount if registered by Aug. 28)
Dates: Wednesdays – 11 September through 2 October 2019;
Time: 4 – 6 p.m.
Location: County Board room, Courthouse, 300 Taconite Street, Hurley, Wisconsin
Objectives: The student will learn the origins and history of the first ten amendments to the U.S.
Constitution and their guaranties of due process and equal protection of the law according with
Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.
Course Structure:
Session I – Historical origins of the Bill of Rights through their adoption in
1791; the First Amendment’s five freedoms.
Session II – Second Amendment: Right to bear arms. Third and Fourth Amendments:
Citizens’ rights to ownership and use of their property without government intrusion.
Session III – Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Amendments: Protections offered to people
accused of committing crimes and right to a trial by jury.
Session IV – Ninth and Tenth Amendments: The constitutional safety nets of
fundamental rights not otherwise listed and the limitation of federal power. Thirteenth,
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments: Abolition of slavery, due process and equal protection of
the law and prohibition of the use of race in determining who can vote.
Instructor: Sam Filippo has a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in English from St. Norbert
College and a J.D. degree from the Northern Illinois University College of Law. He has practiced
law for forty years specializing in criminal law as a prosecutor and defense attorney. He is also a
retired colonel in the United States Army. He and his wife Suzie share time between their cabins
in Saxon and on Tomahawk Lake in Minocqua, Wisconsin.