The political religion of the nation

Law Day, U.S.A.

Raise your hand if you know when this is. Raise both hands if you know what this is!

All those with hands raised probably are some part of the legal profession! The existence of Law Day is part of U.S. public law, but is not widely known. According to Wikipedia it is often used as a "legal education tool."

May 1 was proclaimed Law Day, U.S.A., in 1958 by President Eisenhower. Three years later it became part of public code.

Did you know that? I hadn't. I saw a mention of Law Day a few days ago on Twitter. And then went in search of enlightenment.

According to the U.S. Code, Law Day is to be "a special day of celebration," for people of the country to express "appreciation of their liberties," to reaffirm their loyalty to the country, to rededicate themselves "to the ideals of equality and justice under law," and to cultivate "the respect for law that is so vital to the democratic way of life."

This year's theme for Law Day (chosen by the American Bar Association) honors the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln: "A Legacy of Liberty—Celebrating Lincoln's Bicentennial." And to borrow his own words, from the Gettysburg Address. "it is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this": "Lincoln ... was the quintessential American lawyer-president." And he was passionate about how essential the law is to continued liberty.

"Let every man remember that to violate the law is to trample on the blood of his father, and to tear the charter of his own and his children's liberty. Let reverence for the laws be breathed by every American mother ..... Let it be taught in schools, in seminaries and in colleges; let it be written in primers, spelling books, and in almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation ...."

How will you observe Law Day?