Constitution Day 2025

Constitution Day

September 17, 2025

“For more than two centuries, we have lived by the Constitution and the law.”

Florida judges say these words every day as part of a trial court’s charge to a jury before they begin deliberations. What happens daily in our community’s court buildings is a public demonstration of how the Judicial branch remains accountable to the law and upholds the principles of the Constitution.

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Courts are open to the public.

Citizens can witness the Judicial branch in action by heading down to their local courthouse. It’s rare for a court to close a courtroom to the public, and then it’s usually to protect its most vulnerable participants, such as testimony of a child witness or a person who is alleged to be incapacitated.

This is an illustration of a magnifying glass, a printed document and the word fact.

Court decisions are based on facts and law.

Evidence is offered through photographs, witness testimony, documents, and other items, to help the court determine findings of fact, or what happened in a case. The court then applies legal rules, principles and precedents to reach a legal conclusion.

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Judicial decisions cite the law being applied to the case.

When the court decides a case, it outlines its findings of fact based on the evidence presented and its conclusion of law.

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Court decisions can be appealed to a higher court.

If a party believes a trial court made an error, it can ask an appellate court to review the case.

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Court proceedings are captured in official records.

All criminal court proceedings are captured through court reporters using stenograph machines or the circuit’s digital court recording system. Most of these proceedings are accessible to the public for a nominal cost.

This is an illustration of an open book with the word code.

Judges are subject to rigorous codes of conduct.

The Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission is an independent agency tasked with investigating allegations of judicial misconduct against judges. All judges are required to abide by Florida’s Code of Judicial Conduct and can be sanctioned, publicly reprimanded, suspended or removed from the bench if they violate those codes.