Celebrating the Magna Carta at 800: Law Day is May 1

Each year, Law Day is celebrated on May 1.  Law Day is a national day set aside to celebrate the rule of law and how law and the legal process contribute to the freedoms that all Americans share. 

The 2015 Law Day theme is "Magna Carta: Symbol of Freedom Under Law" in commemoration of the 800th anniversary of the issuance of the Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215.  Today, the Magna Carta remains an enduring symbol of liberty and the rule of law.  One of the Magna Carta's most frequently cited provisions is Chapter 39, which states that "No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions . . .  except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land."

In recognition of Law Day and this year's theme, the Law Library is currently featuring a display which highlights many of the Law Library's materials concerning the Magna Carta.  Included on the display are the following titles:

Magna Carta: Text and Commentary / A.E. Dick Howard

Magna Carta / J.C. Holt

Magna Carta and the Tradition of Liberty / Louis B. Wright

Magna Carta and the Idea of Liberty / Edited by James C. Holt

The Road from Runnymede: Magna Carta and Constitutionalismin America / A. E. Dick Howard

For more information about this year's celebration of Law Day, visit the American Bar Association's Law Day website here. For more resources and an interactive timeline, visit the Magna Carta: Icon of Liberty website.  The Library of Congress also has a website companion to its Magna Carta: Muse and Mentor exhibition which ran from November 6, 2014 to January 19, 2015.