YOSEMITE – The third annual Law Day Yosemite will take place on Friday, May 1, at 10 a.m., in Yosemite Valley at the Yosemite Elementary School field, facing Yosemite Falls.
Approximately 350 eighth grade students from 10 schools in and around Yosemite National Park will gather to celebrate the Rule of Law. The theme for this year’s Law Day Yosemite is the 800th Anniversary of the Magna Carta.
All students have been invited to participate in an essay contest which focuses on the Magna Carta, and is the source of the guarantees of “due process of law,” found in the United States Constitution.
Each student is asked to write an essay of no more than 600 words addressing the question: “If you could set up your own government under our Constitution, how would you define “due process of law” and what protections would it include, and why?” The top three essay writers will be announced and introduced at the Law Day Yosemite 2015 celebration.
Law Day Yosemite 2015 is honored this year to have as the keynote speaker, Laurie Levenson, a Professor of Law at Loyola Law School, who focuses on Ethical Advocacy, Capital Habeas Corpus and the Project for the Innocent. Levenson has served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the law school and in 2003 was Professor of the Year, both a the law school and at the Federal Judicial Center. She also has taught at Southwestern, UCLA, and Pepperdine Law Schools.
Ms. Levenson graduated from Stanford and then from UCLA Law School, where she was Chief Articles Editor for the Law Review. She spent eight years as a Federal Prosecutor at the trial and appellate levels, and was a senior trial attorney and assistant division chief for the U.S. Attorney. She has published multiple texts on criminal law and procedure and approximately 50 Law Review articles.
Ms. Levenson is also know for her service as a legal analyst and commentator for ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and NPR for whom she covered the O.J.Simpson murder trial, Rodney King beating trial, Menendez brothers murder trials, Michael Jackson molestation case, Scott Peterson murder trial, Bernard Madoff investigation, President Clinton impeachment, Robert Blake murder trial, trial of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, prosecution of Anna Nicole Smith’s physicians, and the prosecution of Dr. Conrad Murray.
It is anticipated that the Mariposa Band, the National Park Service Horse Mounted Color Guard, a student from Florin School in Sacramento and the Honorable Stanley A. Boone will address the Law Day Yosemite audience. The Honorable Michael J. Seng will be the Master of Ceremonies.
Law Day Yosemite is a collaborative effort, sponsored by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, the San Joaquin Valley Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, the National Park Service and the Delaware North Corporation.
The Law Day celebration will begin at 10 a.m. and conclude at approximately 12 noon. The public is welcome.
Questions regarding Law Day Yosemite or the essay contest should be directed to Carol Moses at (559) 449-9069 or carol@yosemitelawyer.com
