Magna Carta

Student winners of ABA’s Magna Carta video competition are named

Four Arizona high school students have won first place in an ABA video competition with the theme “Magna Carta: What’s So Great about the ‘Great Charter’?” The students will get a free three-day trip to Washington, D.C., for winning the competition commemorating the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta. They…

Mar 16, 2015 2:11 PM CDT

Winston Churchill wanted to give rare Magna Carta manuscript to US, documents show

Great Britain’s prime minister and other officials wanted to give the U.S. a rare historic manuscript of the Magna Carta during World War II, as a thank-you for America’s anticipated help during the war effort. However, the would-be donation discussed by Winston Churchill in documents unearthed less than a decade…

Mar 11, 2015 1:10 PM CDT

Another Magna Carta is found

A small-town historian has found an ancient edition of the Magna Carta tucked away in a scrapbook compiled at the end of the 19th Century. The newly found Magna Carta was issued by royal decree in 1300, report the Washington Post, BBC News and the Guardian. Historian Mark Bateson found…

Feb 9, 2015 8:07 AM CST

Bryan Garner offers a Magna Carta style guide

The Library of Congress has staged a magnificent exhibit on Magna Carta and its history. It is, after all, the 800th anniversary of the Great Charter of 1215. To commemorate the event, Justice Randy J. Holland of the Delaware Supreme Court has edited a book to accompany the exhibit: Magna Carta: Muse and Mentor, for which Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has written a foreword.

Jan 1, 2015 5:52 AM CST

ABA initiatives raise public awareness about the Magna Carta’s significance

The ABA is using the impending 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta to raise awareness of why a document that was used to settle some disputes between England’s King John and his barons in 1215 still matters eight centuries later. It’s a teaching opportunity about democratic principles if there ever…

Dec 1, 2014 12:50 AM CST

The Magna Carta reaches celebrity status as its 800th anniversary nears

The ABA launched its yearlong commemoration of the Magna Carta’s 800th anniversary with a bang in August at the annual meeting in Boston. The festivities will culminate next June with four days of educational programs, ceremonies and social events in London, followed by a rededication of the ABA’s monument to…

Oct 1, 2014 2:00 AM CDT

Magna Carta should inspire lawyers to rise above partisanship, solve problems, chief justice says

U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, speaking to the ABA House of Delegates, delivered some choice humor, an informative lecture on the history of Magna Carta and a call for lawyers to advance the historic document’s ideal for the rule of law and particularly for independent courts. Roberts’ address…

Aug 11, 2014 5:48 PM CDT

ABA Annual Meeting to feature Chief Justice Roberts, Magna Carta exhibit and new scheduling format

As the ABA gathers this week for the Annual Meeting in Boston, one event and one idea likely will get the most buzz: Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.’s speech launching the association’s yearlong, 800th-anniversary commemoration of Magna Carta; and a sweeping new scheduling format with flexible fees for events…

Aug 6, 2014 2:15 PM CDT

Traveling Magna Carta exhibit debuts at ABA Annual Meeting

Lawyers visiting the ABA Expo during the ABA Annual Meeting in Boston will get the first look at a traveling Magna Carta exhibit commemorating the 800th anniversary of the signing of the document that helped establish the rule of law. The ABA Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress…

Aug 4, 2014 11:15 AM CDT

800th anniversary of Magna Carta will be heralded with celebrations of the rule of law

A seminal blueprint for the rule of law is the Magna Carta, signed by England’s King John on June 15, 1215. To mark the Great Charter’s 800th anniversary next year, the American Bar Association is embarking on a variety of projects and activities to herald, honor and celebrate this landmark,…

Jun 1, 2014 10:00 AM CDT

2 books to commemorate 800 years of the Magna Carta

The legal legacy of the Magna Carta is the subject of two books being produced to help mark the 800th anniversary of the charter’s signing. Both books are expected to be published in time for the 2014 ABA Annual Meeting in Boston, where the association will officially launch its Magna…

Apr 1, 2014 6:00 AM CDT

The 800-Year Reunion: ABA to Hold Commemorative Events in 2015 to Mark Magna Carta Signing

The ABA has a long-standing affinity for Runnymede, the idyllic meadow along the banks of the Thames River west of London, where legal history was made nearly eight centuries ago. On June 15, 1215, King John of England met with his barons in that meadow to resolve a power struggle.…

Nov 1, 2012 6:30 AM CDT

ABA Plans to Continue Its Long History with Magna Carta by Holding Commemorative Events in 2015

The ABA has begun planning to mark the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta with a series of events in the United States and the United Kingdom in 2015. Planning for the events is being coordinated by the Magna Carta 2015 Committee, chaired by Immediate Past President Stephen…

Aug 5, 2012 6:51 PM CDT

Magna Carta to Return to Public View After Pricey Conservation Effort

The public will soon have a chance again to view a 715-year-old copy of Magna Carta at the National Archives following a conservation effort to remove old patches and repair weak spots. The medieval declaration of human rights, which inspired the United States’ founding documents, is owned by Carlyle Group…

Feb 3, 2012 12:07 PM CST

Magna Carta Returns to National Archives

The National Archives invited reporters to see the unveiling of the Magna Carta yesterday, a document back in its possession thanks to the generosity of a lawyer who founded a private equity firm. David Rubenstein, who founded The Carlyle Group, bought a 710-year-old copy of the document for $21.3 million…

Mar 4, 2008 5:31 PM CST