Proclamation 4830—Law Day, U.S.A., 1981

America was founded on the principles of liberty and the rule of law. And throughout our Nation's history, the preservation of individual rights has been dependent upon the dedication of our people to liberty and the institutionalization of its principles in the law of the land.

Our forefathers' dedication to liberty is clearly expressed in this Nation's great Charters of Freedom: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. These documents, which are the very foundation of American law, guarantee certain inalienable rights and privileges to every citizen. Among these are: freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of contract, the right to assemble and petition, the right of property ownership, and the right to due process of law.

This year marks the Nation's twenty-fourth annual celebration of Law Day, U.S.A.—a special day for reflection on our heritage of individual freedom and for rededication to maintaining, through law, the principles of liberty which govern this land.

Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, invite the American people to celebrate Friday, May 1, 1981, as Law Day, U.S.A., and to mark its observance with programs and ceremonies as befits our great heritage of liberty under law.

I urge clergymen of all faiths to bring to public attention through sermons and suitable programs the moral and ethical dimensions of law and liberty.

I also urge schools, civic, service and fraternal organizations, public bodies, libraries, the courts, the legal profession, all media of public information and interested individuals and organizations to participate in the observance through programs which will focus on the Law Day 1981 theme: Law-the Language of Liberty. To that end, I call upon all public officials to display the flag of the United States on all government buildings on that day.

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

RONALD REAGAN