Law week 2018 – fraMework for freeDoM, seParation of Powers: MarCh 5-9, 2018 law Week Committee Chairs: Stephanie Generotti – Cole, Scott & Kissane & Dane Heptner – Perenich Caulfield Avril & Noyes, P. A.
The Charters of Freedom— the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights— establish American Democracy. Each of these documents secures the rights of the American people and is instrumental in expressing the ideals, framework, and philosophy that our country is founded upon. One of the most basic principles of American Democracy is the theory of Separation of Powers.
Separation of Powers is a concept that was designed to control the abuse of government by preventing one branch of government from encroaching on another. To safeguard our freedom, the Constitution provides for a system of checks and balances. As we learned in grade school, each branch has certain powers, and each branch of government is limited by, and accountable to, another branch. Our founding fathers developed these safeguards to prevent oppression and abuse of power in government.
“ It is agreed on all sides, that the powers properly belonging to one of the departments, ought not to be directly and completely administered by either of the other departments. It is equally evident, that neither of them ought to
possess directly or indirectly, an overruling influence over the others in the administration of their respective powers. It will not be denied, that power is of an encroaching nature, and that it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it.” James Madison, Federalist No. 48( 1788).
This year, the HCBA, along with its Young Lawyers Division, will host Law Week from March 5-9, 2018, for our local elementary, middle, and high school students. Law Week exposes students to the legal profession through courthouse tours, an art competition, mock-trials, and classroom discussions. Law Week’ s 2018 theme,“ Separation of Powers, Framework for Freedom,” will allow students to experience and understand the roles of our branches of government, how each relates to and influences the law, and the importance of distributing power.
Our founders believed that Separation of Power was essential to prevent overruling influence and ensure the preservation of liberty.“ The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive and judicial in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether
our goal is for students to gain new appreciation for the importance of having a government founded upon separation of powers.
hereditary, self – appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” James Madison, Federalist No. 51( 1788). Our goal is for students to gain new appreciation for the importance of having a government founded upon Separation of Powers, to understand how each branch interacts and overlaps with the others, to appreciate the significance of checks and balances for each branch in order to prevent abuse of power, and to recognize the value of ensuring that the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of our government work together to preserve democracy and promote the liberties afforded to us in our Constitution.
Please contact co-chairs, Dane Heptner and Stephanie Generotti, if you are interested in volunteering and / or serving on our committee at: www. hillsbar. com / group / LawWeek.
Author: Tiffany Love McElheran- Bush Ross, P. A.
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