The Leon Jaworski Public Program Series

The Leon Jaworski Public Program Series

Since 2001, the American Bar Association Division for Public Education has conducted the Leon Jaworski public program series. The Jaworski public programs have examined themes of law, politics, and culture and have operated on the premise that exploring fundamental legal identities and attributes help us better understand who we are as Americans.

2008 Event Details
8th Annual Leon Jaworski Public Program
The Rule of Law: A National Town Hall Meeting

Date and Location
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Newseum (Interactive Museum of News)
555 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC
Complimentary admission to the Newseum at 2:00 p.m.

Presiding:

William Neukom
President, American Bar Association

Moderator:

Pete Williams
NBC News Justice Correspondent

Panelists:

Randy E. Barnett
Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory
Georgetown University Law Center

Diana Huffman
Baltimore Sun Distinguished Lecturer
The Philip Merrill College of Journalism
University of Maryland

Allan C. Hutchinson
Distinguished Research Professor
Osgoode Hall Law School
York University

Daniel Kaufmann
Director, Global Programs and Governance
World Bank Institute

Philippa Strum
Director, United States Studies
Woodrow Wilson Center

Stephen Teret
Director, Center for Law and the Public's Health
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

G. Edward White
David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law
University of Virginia School of Law

Online Registration

Framing Questions
The program will focus on the 2008 Law Day theme: The Rule of Law: Foundation for Communities of Opportunity and Equity. The aim is to emphasize the rule of law as both an ideal and a practical reality for Americans from all walks of life and fields of endeavor.

What sustains the rule of law? What undermines it?
What is the role of media in sustaining the rule of law?
Why should we care about the rule of law?
What are the primary challenges we face, today and for the future, in upholding the rule of law?
How does the rule of law relate to justice? Democracy?
Is it ever necessary to go outside the rule of law? Why or why not?
What does the rule of law mean to you? To your profession? How does—or should—your profession support the rule of law?
Are we living up to the rule of law?
What should be our civic commitment to the rule of law? What challenges to this commitment do we face?

Program Partners
Among the organizations with which the ABA is cooperating to conduct this program are the Newseum, Law Library of Congress, League of Women Voters, Federation of State Humanities Councils, and the World Justice Project.

About Leon Jaworski
As American Bar Association president in 1971, Leon Jaworski established the committee that was the genesis of the Association's Division for Public Education. In 1983, a bequest from his estate generously established the Leon Jaworski Fund for Public Education, which continues to support annual public programs, such as this one, devoted to furthering public understanding of the law and legal system.