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Law Day
May 1, 2006
What Is Law Day?
A national day set aside to celebrate the rule of law. Law Day underscores how law and the legal process have contributed to the freedoms that all Americans share.
How Did Law Day Begin?
- 1957-American Bar Association (ABA) President Charles S. Rhyne, a Washington, D.C., attorney, envisions a special day for celebrating our legal system.
- 1958-President Dwight D. Eisenhower establishes Law Day to strengthen our great heritage of liberty, justice, and equality under law.
- 1961-May 1 is designated by joint resolution of Congress as the official date for celebrating Law Day.
When Is It Celebrated?
May 1 is the official date, but in fact Law Day can be celebrated on any date. It often becomes Law Week (or Weeks!) as Law Day planners reach out to a broad segment of the community.
How Is It Celebrated?
Law Day programs are designed to help people understand how law keeps us free and how our legal system strives to achieve justice. Law Day is celebrated in schools across the country and in programs designed to reach the adult public. Thousands of programs are conducted every year.
Who Puts On Law Day?
Law Day is often planned by state and local bar associations, courts, schools and governmental agencies in communities throughout the country. Often these groups work together to reach the largest possible audience.
What Is This Year's Theme?
"Liberty Under Law: Separate Branches, Balanced Powers."
Why Is This Theme Important to People?
It is important that all Americans understand what the Founders intended and accomplished in creating a government of separate powers. This theme enables Law Day planners to show how the branches represent separate powers but together form a dynamic system that works for the common good.
"The doctrine of the separation of powers was adopted by the Convention of 1787, not to promote efficiency but to preclude the exercise
of arbitrary power." - Justice Louis Brandeis
