Strengthening and supporting the federal legal system is the primary mission of the Federal Bar Association. The theme of this year's Law Day invites us to celebrate the document that is widely credited with first recognizing some of the most fundamental tenets of our criminal justice system, including the acknowledgement of individual liberty and the right to trial by jury. We approach this task at a very important time, when many courts are developing programs which re-evaluate the way that certain types of criminal offenders are handled.

The U.S. Supreme Court long ago observed:

There is nothing in Magna Carta, rightly construed as a broad charter of public right and law, which ought to exclude the best ideas of all systems and of every age; and as it was the characteristic principle of the common law to draw its inspiration from every fountain of justice, we are not to assume that the sources of its supply have been exhausted. On the contrary, we should expect that the new and various experiences of our own situation and system will mould and shape it into new and not less useful forms.