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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
RECOGNIZING MAY 1, 2017 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 the role of law in our society and for cultivating a deeper understanding of 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 has issued an annual Law Day Proclamation; and
WHEREAS, on April 7, 1961, Congress passed a Joint Resolution that designated May 1 as Law Day. The theme of Law Day 2017 is "The 14th Amendment: Transforming American Democracy"; and
WHEREAS, the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, greatly expanded the constitutional protections available to all through its clauses guaranteeing due process and equal protection; and
WHEREAS, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment serves as the vehicle by which many of the protections in the Bill of Rights are enforceable against state and local government actions that infringe upon fundamental liberties; and
WHEREAS, the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is the source of many constitutional rights including procedural protections providing a safeguard against arbitrary laws or unjust court proceedings and includes substantive protection of fundamental rights that are not specifically enumerated elsewhere in the U.S. Constitution; and
WHEREAS, the Citizenship Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment constitutionally defined national citizenship for the first time and guaranteed t...
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