Flint Township View

Flint Twp. board supports county Law Day events




GENESEE COUNTY — Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, director of the pediatric residency program at Hurley Medical Center, will be among honorees at the 2016 Law Day Luncheon & Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the Genesee County Bar Association, from 11 a.m.- 12:45 p.m. on April 29 at the Masonic Temple, 755 S. Saginaw St. in downtown Flint.

Hanna-Attisha, the doctor whose research helped expose lead poisoning of Flint children from the city’s contaminated water supply, will receive the Liberty Bell Award.

Other honorees include the Crime Victim’s Advocate of the Year presented to Jay Kommareddi of the Genesee County Human Trafficking Task Force; and the Golden Apple Award to Vickie Weiss, City School Perry Center, Grand Blanc Community School.

Tickets are $15 each and can be purchased via the bar association web site at www.gcbalaw.org/file/Law%20Day%20 Flyer%202016%20Luncheon2.pdf

The American Bar Association has identified the theme for this year’s Law Day observance as “Miranda: More than Words.” The Miranda warning is generally known as the right to remain silent and to obtain a lawyer before making statements to officers of the law when being arrested.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the 1966 landmark United States Supreme Court decision in Miranda vs. Arizona, which ruled that statements made by a suspect in police custody are generally inadmissible if the suspect has not been made aware of his or her Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights.

According to the 2016 Law Day Proclamation: “The Miranda Warning has become one of the nation’s most recognizable legal expressions and a symbol of procedural fairness that represents much more than the words of the warning.”

The proclamation further states that “The criminal justice system still faces many challenges and we must all rededicate ourselves to the great goal of ensuring that it provides fair and equal treatment for all.”

To promote public understanding of the roots of freedom, Law Day will be commemorated in the state of Michigan on May 1.

Law Day was first proclaimed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on May 1, 1958.

Each year since, by proclamation of the President of the United States and a Congressional statute passed in 1961, on May 1 bar associations nationwide celebrate Law Day with a variety of activities.

On March 21, the Flint Township Board, approved a proclamation in support of Law Day in order to “raise the visibility” of the day and what it celebrates. Local governments, courts, schools and other community groups also are being asked to support the annual observance.


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