Law Day, held annually on May 1st, is a national day set aside to celebrate the rule of law. Law Day provides an opportunity to understand how law and the legal process protect our liberty, strive to achieve justice, and contribute to the freedoms that all Americans share.

Thousands of Law Day resources are available for schools, state and local bar associations, civic organizations, and others to plan programs, lessons, and activities for a variety of public audiences, in-person and virtually. In addition, the President of the United States has issued a Law Day proclamation recognizing the importance of the rule of law every year since 1958.

America is unique among the nations of the world because we were not built around any particular tribe, religion, or ethnicity — instead, we were built around an idea: that all people are created equally and deserve to be treated equally throughout their lives.  Though we have never fully lived up to that idea, we have never walked away from it either.  It is an idea that serves as the heart of American democracy, enshrined in our Constitution 235 years ago on a summer day in Philadelphia.  To uphold those fundamental principles of equality, “We the People” would stand sovereign in America as stewards and subjects of the law — and ours would be, in the words of John Adams, “a government of laws, and not of men.”

 

On Law Day, U.S.A., we recommit to extending the full promise of America to all Americans and to building a Nation in which the extraordinary power vested in “We the People” truly and equally reflects all of us. This year’s Law Day theme, “Toward a More Perfect Union:  The Constitution in Times of Change,” is a reflection of this critical moment of reckoning for our democracy.  The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our communities has put a spotlight on lingering inequities that we must continue to address head on.  Together, we must build a better America, anchored by the rule of law, to ensure that every one of us can live lives of limitless possibility… READ MORE

 

– President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

An annual theme is also chosen to spotlight a particular aspect of law or the legal process and its impact on our daily lives. This year’s theme is “Toward a More Perfect Union: The Constitution in Times of Change.” 

For more information, visit the American Bar Association.

Source: American Bar Association