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Alexa Magrane, a Rising 2L, is working this summer on a research project focusing on the New Hampshire Constitution in the office of the Hon. N. William Delker at Hillsborough Superior Court North in Manchester. 

(The following excerpts from a recorded interview have been edited for clarity and brevity.)

On working with Judge Delker on the New Hampshire Constitution Project: 

Judge Delker has a very deep interest in the constitution and its founding. We were the first state in the nation to have a constitution and spent several years debating and arguing over what was going to be a good constitution for us, prior to the United States constitution coming in. He wants to make that information accessible to lawyers who are making constitutional arguments.  And Judge Delker really wants to make sure this is a project that can continue.

So part of the reason that Judge Delker brought me on is my own history. I've worked in a lot of corporations and have experience making and standardizing procedures. So that way, after Bryan Rome, who is in his second year working on the project as a Rudman Summer Fellow,  and I have moved on, more people can join this project and continue to move forward rather than having to restart the process every time. 

On her daily work: 

In addition to working on transcriptions and researching documents, we are looking to start a website to make this information accessible to people. We currently have a lot of it hosted on the state's LibGuides website, but that does have certain limitations.  A big part of what I'm doing right now is figuring out the best ways to organize this information so that lawyers can find it easily without having to do a bunch of digging that we've already done. 

I’m working with another student, Bryan Rome, sifting through files and archives and all sorts of documentation from the state's founding. With that, we're doing a lot of transcription work, research into finding documentation, and researching the best ways to make this available to lawyers in the future. 

I think the general public should also take an interest in it.  It is fascinating to read what some very intelligent people were talking about at that very consequential time in human history. Some incredible authors submitted their essays to newspapers, which was the town square at the time. 

It's always good to be informed on our constitution.  Why do we get certain rights that aren't in other constitutions? Why did they choose this path for us? Whether or not you want to sit there and read multiple transcriptions and essays from that time period, it's at the very least something that's good for everyone to have access to. 

On what she has found most interesting about the documents:  

One is that humans have always been petty and on the flip side of that is how thoughtful and how much effort people put into truly making sure that this was going to be an effective method of government.  We have the 1776 version and then the 1778 and1781 versions. It wasn't until 1783, with essays and debate and many changes, that we actually see the final version.  

Watching the progressive history as these changes are made to try to create a document that will last, that can be changed as needed, but that will also provide structure for the people of the state of New Hampshire, really provided some insight into how we've always looked to do better for our posterity.

On what she hopes to achieve this summer: 

The main goal is to get the website at least started.  None of us are developers so this is a little bit of a learning curve, but there are a lot of resources out there and people who are very helpful. We're looking to at least get to the point where somebody can go on it and start researching constitutional issues. 

The Rudman Center fellowships support students who work during the summer for government agencies or 501(c)3 non-profit organizations that perform public interest legal work.   For more on the Rudman Summer Fellowship program, visit .