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An Annual Celebration of the Rule of Law
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CELEBRATING SINCE 1958 when President Dwight Eisenhower designated May 1 as Law Day to mark the role of the rule of law in the formation of the United States.
THE 63rd ANNUAL LAW DAY CELEBRATION, May 6, 2022 “TOWARD A MORE PERFECT UNION:
THE CONSTITUTION IN TIMES OF CHANGE” CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2022 LAW DAY AWARD WINNERS! POSTER AND ESSAY CONTEST AWARDS MOCK TRIAL COMPETITION AWARDS - Merion Mercy, 1st & 2nd Place! THEMIS AWARD
Candice Linehan, MSW, LSW, Assistant Executive Director, Delaware County Victim Assistance Center
LIBERTY BELL AWARD
Shirley Fredrick
ELIZABETH C. PRICE AWARD
Hon. Frank T. Hazel
SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD TO:
Robert (Reb) Speare, Esquire, Speare & Hughey; 1st Managing Trustee at Nathan Speare Foundation;
Trustee, E. Wallace Chadwick Memorial Fund SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD TO:
Robert E. J. Curran, Sr., Esquire … A delegate to the Constitutional Convention for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, from 1967-1968.
The highlights of changes to the Pennsylvania Constitution which resulted from this convention are: Legislative apportionment; Limitations on the ability of the state government to borrow money based on tax revenues, budgeting, and financial planning; Provision of home rule for all units of local government.
Some of the most significant constitutional changes enacted in 1967-1968 affected the state judiciary. Two of the most important accomplishments were the establishment of a unified judicial system and the creation of the Commonwealth Court, a second appellate court in addition to the Superior Court. Also, the method by which judges were re-elected to the Bench after their initial terms was changed dramatically. Instead of being re-elected in partisan political contests, judges would now be “retained” based on their records.
An excerpt from “What Chester Makes the Delco Bar Takes!” Reflections on the “DCBA 150th Anniversary” at www.delcobar.org. Submitted by Joseph Patrick O’Brien, Esquire, KAO Law Associates.
“About 50 years ago, William Cornell Archbold, Jr., Esq., then President (#37) of our Delaware County Bar Association (“DCBA”) led the 1972 Law Day parade in Chester, Pennsylvania down what was then called Market Street, now Avenue of the States, to the site of the original Delaware County Courthouse built in 1724, in celebration of the then Hundredth Anniversary of the DCBA. Leading the parade was the world-renowned actress and singer Ethel Waters. Following were the Chief Justice and entire membership of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the Judges of the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas, and the Presidents of all of Delaware County’s colleges and universities. It was a glorious day not only for the DCBA, but certainly, for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the City of Chester as it honored the oldest courthouse in continuous use in the United States of America.”
TOLLING OF THE BELL
Rung on July 7, 1776, to summon local citizens to the market square for the first reading of the Declaration of Independence
