title
PROPOSED RESOLUTION
RECOGNIZING MAY 1, 2015 AS NATIONAL LAW DAY
WHEREAS, Law Day is a national day set aside to celebrate the rule of law. Law Day underscores how law and the legal process contribute to the freedoms that all Americans share; and
WHEREAS, Law Day has its origin in 1957, when American Bar Association (ABA) President Charles S. Rhyne envisioned a special day for celebrating our legal system; and
WHEREAS, on February 3, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower established Law Day by issuing a Proclamation proclaiming it "fitting that the people of this Nation should remember with pride and vigilantly guard the great heritage of liberty, justice, and equality under law which our forefathers bequeathed to us." Every President, since President Eisenhower, has issued an annual Law Day Proclamation; and
WHEREAS, on April 7, 1961, Congress passed a Joint Resolution, designating May 1 as Law Day. The theme of Law Day 2015 is "Magna Carta: Symbol of Freedom Under Law"; and
WHEREAS, this Law Day marks the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, the "Great Charter" issued at Runnymede in England in 1215. Law Day also provides an opportunity to recognize that Magna Carta has come to embody a simple but enduring truth: No one, no matter how powerful, is above the law; and
WHEREAS, Magna Carta's most oft-cited provision, Chapter 39, declares, "No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions ... except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land." In this provision, Americans can associate the early roots of our cherished due process rights with Magna Carta; and
WHEREAS, Magna Carta is an international symbol of freedom under the law and an inspiration for many basic rights revered by Americans, including due process, habeas corpus, trial by jury, and the right to travel; and
WHEREAS, Magna Carta has been cited in over 170 U.S. Supreme Court opinions most often in support of due proce...
Click here for full text