Proclamation 4565—Law Day, U.S.A., 1978

More than any other country, the United States of America is founded upon law. Our people are enormously varied in ethnic and cultural background, in religious belief, and even in language and place of origin. What unites us in our diversity is a common commitment to the Constitution and the laws, and the liberties they represent. These are the basis of our very Nationhood.

This year we once again set aside a special day to honor our commitment to the rule of law. For this year's observance, the American Bar Association has selected the theme of "Your Access to Justice." It is a most appropriate one, for it asks us to reflect not only upon how our legal system can be made more responsive to our needs, but also upon the nature of justice itself.

Access to justice involves issues that lie beyond the scope of any single group. The law is not the private property of lawyers, nor is justice the exclusive province of judges and juries. In the final analysis, true justice is not a matter of courts and law books, but of a commitment in each of us to liberty and to mutual respect. Accordingly, the efforts of the legal profession to elicit the help and advice of all Americans are to be commended.

To encourage the people of the United States to consider their individual responsibilities with respect to our legal system, the Congress, by joint resolution approved April 7, 1961 (75 Stat. 43, 36 U.S.C. 164) has requested the President to issue a proclamation calling upon the American people to observe the first day of May of each year as Law Day, U.S.A.

Now, Therefore, I, Jimmy Carter, President of the United States of America, ask all Americans to celebrate Monday, May 1, 1978, as Law Day, U.S.A., and to honor the principle of equal justice under law. I ask all public officials to display the flag of the United States on all public buildings on that day.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and Second.

JIMMY CARTER