AUGUSTA — Maine students in grades 4-12 are invited to submit entries for this year’s Law Day contests sponsored by the Maine State Bar Association. This year’s theme is “Your Vote, Your Voice, Our Democracy: The 19^th Amendment at 100.” 

Students in grades 4-8 may participate in the art poster contest and students in grades 9-12 may participate in the essay contest. The entry deadline is April 15.

This year’s theme explores the centennial of the transformative constitutional amendment that guaranteed the right of citizens to vote would not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex. The women’s suffrage movement expanded representative democracy and inspired other popular movements for constitutional change and reform. Reflection on that movement reveals complexity and tensions over race and class that remain part of the ongoing story of the 19^th Amendment and its legacies.

Entries should reflect the interpretation of the 2020 Law Day theme by responding to this prompt: What impact has the 19^th Amendment had on our society, culture, and democracy?

The art poster contest has cash prizes of $50 each for the student and teacher in two grade categories: 4-5 and 6-8. The essay contest has a $75 first-place cash prize for both the student and teacher and a $50 second-place cash prize for both the student and teacher. Winning essays and posters will be published online and in the Maine Bar Journal.

Law Day was established in 1958 by President Dwight Eisenhower to mark the nation’s commitment to the rule of law. For more information about Law Day or to download the Law Day contest brochures, visit www.mainebar.org > For the Public > Law Day 2020 or click here: https://www.mainebar.org/page/lawday.