More than 120 legal professionals and middle and high school students attended the CBA's annual Law Day event, “Your Vote, Your Voice, Our Democracy: Celebrating the Centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment in the Age of COVID-19,” which was held virtually on Friday, May 8. Guest speaker Secretary of the State Denise W. Merrill wove the American Bar Association’s Law Day theme, celebrating suffrage history and the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, into a discussion about voting challenges today, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was organized by the CBA's Civics Education Committee and co-sponsored by Connecticut's numerous affinity and local bar associations, including the Connecticut Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, Fairfield County Bar Association, Hartford County Bar Association, The Greater Bridgeport Bar Association, Greater New Britain Bar Association, Litchfield County Bar Association, Middlesex County Bar Association, New Haven County Bar Association, Tolland County Bar Association, and Waterbury Bar Association. The event served as the culmination of the CBA's yearlong efforts to commemorate the centennial of the 19th Amendment with events that included lectures and a statewide scavenger hunt.
Law Day is a national effort, held since 1957, to celebrate the rule of law, providing an opportunity to understand how law and the legal profession protect our liberty, strive to achieve justice, and contribute to the freedoms that all Americans share. Traditionally, the CBA's Civics Education Committee, co-chaired by Karen DeMeola and Jonathan Weiner, observes Law Day at the Connecticut Appellate Court in Hartford by hosting an event featuring an interactive activity, such as a debate or essay and art contest, for middle and high school students. The event was held virtually this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The committee's initial disappointment of having to cancel this year's interactive event, which would have featured Mercy High School students acting as prominent figures in the history of women's suffrage and the struggle to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, was greatly relieved by the overwhelming response from both the bar and the public schools to the virtual event featuring Secretary of the State Merrill, who is a longtime friend of both civics education and the CBA,” said Civics Education Committee Co-Chair Jonathan Weiner. “We're looking forward to providing more events like this in the coming year to expand access to civics education across Connecticut, especially in light of post-COVID-19 restrictions on school activities."