Constitutional law attorneys handle cases involving the construction and interpretation of federal and state constitutions, including individual rights and governmental powers. Constitutional law cases can involve issues like First Amendment rights -- such as freedom of speech, press, and religion -- and the checks and balances on authority among different branches of government. Most of the federal constitutional rights are found in the Bill of Rights, that was created originally as a limitation on the action by the federal government, but many of those rights are also applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.
Chatham is a town in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, United States. Chatham's population was 1,338 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Danville, Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. Chatham is home to Chatham High School and Hargrave Military Academy. It is also home to Chatham Hall, an all-female boarding high school. It is the county seat of Pittsylvania County. It is the home to the oldest continually used building in Pittsylvania County, once an 18th century tavern, since turned into a house and now occupied by Chatham Hall faculty. Chatham is also home to the country's top rated military preparatory boarding school, Hargrave Military Academy, which includes a special Colin Powell program to help students decide which area of military service is best for them. Chatham is the county seat for Pittsylvania County and has held that status since 1777. There is a large U.S. Department of Agriculture office to support farmers in the area and a small branch office of the U.S. Forestry Service. The State of Virginia has built a new state prison at the site of an old work-release camp and this led to infrastructure upgrades in fire and water services to support the increased population. Although Chatham is the county seat for a large county, the closest city, Danville, is not in the county because it is an independent Virginia city. Chatham did not see any battle action during the Civil War although it is between Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, and Danville, which contained Confederate prisons for captured Union soldiers. On Confederate Memorial Day each year, the local chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy places flowers at the statute of a Confederate soldier which is prominent in the front of the historic Pittsylvania County Court House. There is a walking tour of this downtown historic district and a brochure for this is available at the Town Hall, or at the Historical Society building next to Town Hall. There are several bed & breakfast establishments located on Main Street in historic Greek Revival homes.