Professor Zina Makar of the University of Baltimore Law School will present this year's Constitution Day Lecture.  

The Constitution has proven itself to be a living document capable of application to contemporary society’s constant evolution. Incarcerated populations, however, have often been insulated from societal change. One reason for this has been the almost universal exclusion of technology in the carceral setting. But all of that is soon to change. Prisons and jails are increasingly integrating digital tablets into carceral spaces. These tablets afford prisoners significantly greater opportunities to make calls, conduct video visits, and send text messages—allowing prisoners to make more meaningful connections with those in society. As a result, digital tablets bridge the gap between the carceral environment and society in unprecedent ways. This talk will discuss the importance of the inclusion of prisoner rights in ongoing interpretations of digital rights through modern applications of the Constitution.