WI Justice Daniel Kelly: A Republic, if YOU Can Keep it!

Former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly, who is seeking a new term in the Wisconsin Supreme Court in the upcoming Spring 2023 election, educated voters about the importance of keeping the Republic by understanding the Constitution. He spoke at an event held at the Freedom Project Academy, in Appleton, Wisconsin, on October 1st.

Justice Kelly opened his remarks recounting how when a woman asked Benjamin Franklin on what form of government the Framers had given us, he replied “A Republic ma’am, if you can keep it.” Justice Kelly emphasized “you” as American’s individual responsibility to keep the Republic. “You won’t keep what you don’t treasure and you can’t treasure what you don’t understand,” Kelly said.

He spoke about how the Framers believed that their then-proposed federal Constitution (before the introduction and ratification of the Bill of Rights) was capable of governing the country and protecting American’s individual rights. Justice Kelly also discussed the separation of powers, correlating the three branches of the federal government with a place on the timeline: the future, present, and past.