More than 200 members of Omaha’s legal community gathered Wednesday for a luncheon marking the annual celebration of Law Day with the presentation of awards and a keynote address on this year’s theme, “Free Speech, Free Press, Free Society.”
The Omaha Bar Association recognized several community outreach efforts organized as part of Law Day, including an annual mock trial, classroom visits by lawyers and judges, and essay and poster contests for area students.
Would the Big Bad Wolf prevail in his tort claim for damages that he filed against Curly Pig after he was injured falling into a vat of boiling water at Pig’s home? One hundred fifth-graders from OPS’s Liberty Elementary School watched the (mock) trial held in their gym, with 12 of them serving as jurors, at the Omaha Bar Association’s 2019 Law Day Mock Trial.
Two journalists have dedicated their careers to the importance of telling the stories of the legal community in Omaha.
Through their positions at The Daily Record, these two women have shaped the relationship between the Omaha Bar Association and the city’s daily legal newspaper, a relationship that stretches back to the beginning of both organizations in the late 1800s.
This year’s Omaha Bar Association Public Service Award honors The Daily Record publisher Lynda Henningsen and local news editor Lorraine Boyd.
The legal profession owes a debt of gratitude to Creighton University Law Professor G. Michael Fenner.
Fenner helped preserve the Nebraska State Bar Association in the immediate aftermath of its court-mandated transition to a voluntary membership. Fenner has facilitated visits by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to teach law seminars at Creighton for more than two decades. On a personal level, Fenner has mentored, encouraged and supported countless law students and young attorneys as they began their careers.
Democracy requires participation from its citizens, who in turn need to have the information and understanding necessary to evaluate complex decisions.
The First Amendment freedoms that compose this year’s Law Day theme – “Free Speech, Free Press, Free Society” – are the basis of representative government and are integral to the U.S. Constitution’s promise of the “Blessings of Liberty.”
Despite the headwinds facing the industry, Nebraska has a rich variety of newspapers, from general-interest publications to more niche outlets serving communities connected by occupation, religion or geography.
The First Amendment guarantees these publications freedom from government censorship, especially suppression of material prior to publication – except in rare instances of bona fide national security concerns.
Legal Aid of Nebraska: To the Muddy Rescue and Beyond
The water came from everywhere and it seems few, if any, were ready for what happened in the middle of March. Historic flooding ravaged much of Nebraska. Federal disaster relief came, but so much more was needed.
That need was, and is, one that could not wait. Legal Aid of Nebraska – the organization that provides free civil legal help to eligible low-income clients – was ready.
Each year, the Omaha Legal Professionals Association (OLPA) sponsor the Law Day essay contest to area eighth-grade students and the Nebraska Paralegal Association (NePA) gives area fifth graders a chance to win with a poster contest. Both competitions feature the Law Day theme for the year.
Journalists might take for granted their right to report utterances made in open court, but they have the organized efforts of Nebraska media outlets to thank for a landmark Supreme Court decision establishing that right.
The media coalition came together to fight a North Platte judge’s order in 1975 to stop the publication and broadcasting of accounts of a confession or other facts “strongly implicative” of guilt in a Sutherland murder case.