ABA marks 60th anniversary of Law Day with focus on separation of powers
The ABA is marking the 60th anniversary of Law Day on Tuesday with public events focusing on the theme “Separation of Powers: Framework for Freedom.”
The first event features tweeting high-school students while the second involves a debate of the resolution: Separation of powers is “essential to the preservation of liberty.” ABA President Hilarie Bass is participating in both programs, as well as a Law Day event at the Law Library of Congress, according to press releases here and here.
The programs are among nationwide events sponsored by state and local bar associations across the country to mark Law Day each May 1. They include essay, poster, photography and video contests; workshops and seminars; and even 5K Law Day runs, Bass said in her April President’s Message published in the ABA Journal.
Bass encourages all lawyers to participate in the educational effort. “It’s so critical that every lawyer think about spending an hour or two in an elementary, middle or high school,” Bass said in a statement provided to the ABA Journal. “Everything you need to teach a basic civics class on this topic is on our website. If we have any hope of changing the dynamic in this country, we have to start with basic legal education—an education about what it means to have a constitutional democracy, that is based on three separate, but independent, equal branches of government.”
At the first event, co-sponsored by the ABA and the Close Up Foundation, nearly 100 high school students from across the nation will gather for a dialogue on the separation of powers at the U.S. Navy Memorial’s Naval Heritage Center Auditorium. Students will tweet live during the program using the hashtag #ABALawDay.
The second event is the 16th annual Leon Jaworski Public Program, in which panelists will gather at the National Press Club to debate the separation of powers resolution, considering the concept as an ideal and as a practice.
Bass will also discuss the separation of powers with the law librarian of Congress as part of the day’s event.
“Though the term ‘separation of powers’ does not appear anywhere in the text of the United States Constitution,” Bass wrote in the ABA Journal, “the concept of three separate but equal branches of government is one of the most important ways our government defends the liberties essential to our democracy.”
How does the #SeparationOfPowers guarantee “the preservation of liberty”? That is the question to consider this #Law Day. @abapubliced has resources to help guide your civics education endeavor. pic.twitter.com/ltDvfKh702
— Hilarie Bass (@ABAPresident) April 29, 2018
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ABAJournal.com: “ABA president denounces judicial impeachment threat, points to Law Day theme”
