October 27th, 2017–
Last Wednesday, October 25th, the Virginia Holocaust Museum hosted the annual Rule of Law Day Awards. One of the central lessons of the Holocaust focuses on the centrality of the Rule of Law in the creation and maintenance of civil societies. To safeguard that belief, the Nuremberg Courtroom Committee of the Virginia Holocaust Museum in tandem with the Virginia Law Foundation established an annual program to honor individuals whose life and work emulate the highest ideals enshrined in the principals that established the Nuremberg Military Tribunal (1945–46) and later the International Court of Justice.
U.S. Circuit Judge- Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, J. Harvie Wilkinson, III received the 2017 Rule of Law Award and Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice, Donald Lemons, received the Civility in the Law Award, the first award of this type given during a Rule of Law Day.
Board Trustee, Irving Blank, Esq. introducing Donald Lemons as he accepts the Civility in the Law Award
irginia Supreme Court Chief Justice, Donald Lemons accepts the first Civility in the Law Award given during a Rule of Law Day
Principal Deputy Solicitor General, Jeffrey Wall introduces his Father-in-Law and recipient of the Rule of Law Award, Harvie Wilkinson.
U.S. Circuit Judge- Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, J. Harvie Wilkinson, III accepts the 2017 Rule of Law Award
Wilkinson during his "Historical Memory and the Rule of Law" Speech
Irving Blank (center) presents the Rule of Law Award to J. Harvie Wilkinso, III (left) and the Civility in the Law Award to Donald Lemons (right)
Below you can watch J. Harvie Wilkinson, III's acceptance speech Historical Memory and the Rule of Law below. Click here to download the transcript of Wilkinson's speech.
Below you can watch Judge Donald Lemons acceptance speech.
Special thanks to the generosity and support of Mr. and Mrs. Jay Weinberg, The Virginia Law Foundation, and the Virginia Holocaust Museum Nuremberg Courtroom Committee for making this day possible.