It’s Constitution Day in America, and we implore all Americans to understand that the United States Constitution must remain the foundational bedrock of our democracy. On Sept. 17, 1787, the Founders established a set of rules and principles designed to ensure that our debates are resolved through law and discourse rather than by force or fear.

The Constitution has survived many crises — including the Civil War, the Great Depression and Watergate. That our nation has thrived despite these crises is a reminder that our greatest strength is not the absence of disagreements or challenges but the framework we have for resolving those disputes and challenges.

As a career trial lawyer and former United States attorney — serving under both political parties — I have routinely dealt with differences of thought, opinion and political affiliation. Such matters are part of the give-and-take in a healthy democracy. But I have never seen what we are witnessing today, when partisan politics and competing ideologies are becoming mistaken for the constitutional rules and principles on which our country was founded.

Currently, as president of the American College of Trial Lawyers, I travel the country representing this preeminent group of more than 5,000 trial lawyers in the United States and Canada. We are among the most experienced........

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