When we recite the Pledge of Allegiance of the United States, we celebrate our nation's commitment to "liberty and justice for all." As Americans we are proud of our heritage of liberty under law. As lawyers and judges we know that the rule of law safeguards our rights and our precious freedoms. Unfortunately, not all Americans know what those freedoms are. Recent polls have found that nearly fifty per-cent of Americans are unable to name a single freedom protected by the First Amendment.

Law Day this year-with its theme of "Assuring Equal Justice for All" is an opportunity for all of us to look at our efforts to make equal justice a reality, and to work together to reach that goal. Law Day is a good time for the Sacramento Lawyer to recognize the work of those, in this community, who try to make courts accessible and justice equal.

To a large extent, the activities suggested by the American Bar Association are part of our daily lives in Sacramento. The Sacramento County Bar Association's Indigent Defense Panel ensures that criminal defendants are represented when the public defender has a conflict or is overloaded. The Sacramento County Superior Court has self-help centers in several areas of law to assist pro-per litigants. The Voluntary Legal Services Program (VLSP) has provided legal services to the poor for over twenty years. The Center for Youth Citizenship organizes moot court, mock trial and alternative dispute resolution in numerous schools throughout the area. The Unity Bar, Fourth and Fifth R's Rights and Responsibilities under the law program, currently spearheaded by Women Lawyers of Sacramento (WLS), is taught year after year at Florin High. Volunteers in Parole (VIP) gives attorney mentors the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of recent parolees. Lawyers at the Senior Legal Hotline provide an invaluable service to our seniors. The Sacramento Law Foundation makes donations on our behalf to many law-related community activities. And, last but certainly not least The Sacramento County Law Library provides an invaluable service to lawyers and laypersons alike.

This year in our Law Day issue, we celebrate both the old and the new.

In the 1970s and 80s May saw a month long celebration of "Law Day" in Sacramento. More recently, we have concentrated to large extent on Law Day itself. This year we see something of a resurgence in activities.

On May 1, we have an opportunity to celebrate Law Day with the River Cats. The throwing of the first pitch will "kick-off" the exciting new "Playing by the Rules" youth citizenship program. J. Clark Kelso and Donald H. Wollett describe the goals of the program and the opportunities that it offers in our cover story. The accompanying photos epitomize the spirit of this community effort to celebrate and reinforce America's history, values, culture and law.

The event itself lets us go out together to the ball game. It's not too late to join us.

On May 2, we will celebrate Law Day in conjunction with the dedication of the new law library, postponed from last year because of the tragic events of September 11. You can read all about the new library in Carly Hegle's article and about the event on the back cover of the magazine.

At the award ceremony, VLSP will present its June Black Award to Virginia Mueller. As Vicki Jacobs explains the award is for a lifetime of service culminating in a particularly valiant effort last year. WLS will also present the Frances Newell Carr Achievement Award to Lilly Spitz. As we see from Debra Roberts Ries article the award is extremely well deserved.

In the awards department, Curtis R. Namba tells us about the extraordinary accomplishments of Robert "Bob" Buccola, who was recently named 2001 trial lawyer of the year by the Sacramento chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA.)

As always we welcome photo opportunities. We hope you enjoy the photos of the ABAS installation and the investitures of Justice Ron Robie and Judge Emily Vasquez.

Now I have to deal with some housekeeping matters. We have now embarked on our new schedule of six issues per year produced by two volunteer executive editors who have extremely busy day jobs. I'm sure you all enjoyed, as did I, the wonderful January/February issue edited by Chris Krueger.

That said, we expect to have some teething problems, particularly with scheduling. We are working hard to cure the problems. However, for those of you who have relied on the Sacramento Lawyer for calendar items, this is probably the time to start consulting other sources. We will continue to publish a calendar but because of the time it takes for a glossy magazine to go to press, it will be virtually impossible for us to provide comprehensive information of all SCBA related activities. The SCBA website at www.sacbar.org is much more up-to-date. Also, the Daily Recorder provides a comprehensive daily calendar as well as interesting news items and general legal information.

As Chris wrote last month we are totally dependent on our contributors. We strive to provide a service to our members. If you have an event you want to publicize, let us know. Don't forget that the courthouse steps and classified advertisement sections are free to members.

We want to thank all of our contributors. We welcome your input. If you have suggestions for improvement, let us know. If you would like to be more involved, call me at 874-5842 or e-mail stonej@saccourt.com.

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