Amidst public scrutiny following the Terri Schiavo case, the U.S. legal system will be observed as a national holiday May 1.

Law Day, originally proposed by the American Bar Association and designated in 1958 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, was implemented to celebrate the country’s legal system and values.

The day is also an opportunity for state and local bar systems to talk about the rule of law and other aspects of the legal system, with particular themes or aspects being focused on each year, said Jim Landman, associate director of the American Bar Association’s Division of Public Education.

Landman said this year’s theme, chosen by ABA President Robert Grey, Jr., will focus on the jury and its role in American democracy and the legal system.

It is important for citizens to recognize rights such as trial by jury as well as involvement in the legal process through jury duty, Landman said.

Landman said courts are also finding ways to reach common ground with those selected for jury duty, including a one-day, one-trial system that limits prospective jurors to one day of jury service unless they are selected for a trial.

This year’s Law Day comes at a time when the country’s judicial system has faced recent controversy.

Conservative critics spoke out against judges during the Terri Schiavo case, in which the severely brain damaged woman’s feeding tube was removed.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) called the case a “legal tragedy” after Schiavo died March 31, saying “the time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior.”

The recent murder of a federal judge’s family in Chicago and a shooting rampage that claimed the lives of a judge and two others in an Atlanta courtroom has also been a cause for concern.

Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) suggested earlier this month that recent violence against judges may have been the result of a buildup of frustrations over unnamed judges’ “political decisions” that were “unaccountable to the public.”

Cornyn’s suggestions were “absolutely absurd,” said Ed Yohnka, director of communications for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.

The men charged in the two cases were not motivated by controversial political decisions, he said.

Bart Ross, who confessed to the Chicago killings in a suicide note, claimed the judge unfairly ruled against him in a medical malpractice suit.

The Atlanta man charged with the killing, Brian Nichols, was on trial for charges including rape, sodomy and false imprisonment when the shooting began.

For more information on Law Day, visit the official Web site at www.lawday.org.