On September 17 222 years ago, there was a turning point in America's history. The founding fathers signed the U.S. Constitution in 1787.

To commemorate the occasion, Bridgewater College invited Federal Judge John Jones from Pennsylvania to speak.

Jones, a lifelong Republican, discouraged the audience from getting too involved in right or left wing politics. Instead, he encouraged young people to get to know their government by learning the laws that govern the nation and their state.

He says, "If you don't understand what your fundamental rights and liberties are, you run a greater risk of losing them."

Jones is well known for his 2005 decision to keep "intelligent design" out of a Pennsylvania classroom, concluding that teaching creationism in a public school violated the establishment clause in the Constitution.