AG LYNCH'S REMARKS AT MAGNA CARTA COMMEMORATION

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT  
Attorney General Lynch Delivers Remarks at Magna Carta Commemoration Ceremony
London United Kingdom ~ Monday, June 15, 2015
Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Thank you, Secretary [Philip] Hammond, for that kind introduction.  Your Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, honored guests – it is a pleasure to be here this morning, and a great privilege to join you all at this important commemoration.

Eight hundred years ago, on the grounds of Runnymede, King John sealed a piece of parchment – a Great Charter – that extended basic rights to individuals subject to his reign.  That Magna Carta was neither expansive nor long-lived – its rules applied to only a small group of noblemen, and it was first annulled just 10 weeks after being sealed.  But its adoption served as a signpost on a long and difficult march, and those who forged its compromise stood as early travelers on the road to justice.  While the hands that wrote the Magna Carta have long been stilled, the principles they carved out of the struggles of their day – of the struggles of the human condition – live on.

Seven and a half centuries after that historic day, in 1957, a crowd of 5,000 people walked in storied footsteps to dedicate this memorial and to recognize its significance.  Among them was Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of America’s Supreme Court and one of our nation’s greatest jurists, who noted in an opinion a year later that principles traced back to Magna Carta represented a concept that is “nothing less than the dignity of man.”

For Chief Justice Warren, and for the many American lawyers and jurists who gathered by his side, this monument had special meaning, because Magna Carta had come to symbolize more than a simple agreement between noblemen and their king.  This social contract between a monarch and his people codified, however imperfectly, notions that would one day stand at the heart of our own system of justice: the idea that no power is unconditional, and no rule is absolute; that we are not subjugated by an infallible authority, but share authority with our fellow citizens.  That all are protected by the law, just as all must answer to the law.  These fundamental, age-old principles have given hope to those who face oppression.  They have given a voice to those yearning for the redress of wrongs.  And they have served as the bedrock of free societies around the globe, inspiring countless women and men seeking to weave their promise into reality.  

For those who drafted the U.S. Constitution, the significance of Magna Carta was clear.  Its influence helped shape a political system that enshrines separation of powers, due process and the rule of law; a legal system that recognizes and honors the dignity of all people; and a commitment to ongoing efforts to realize these ideals in every interaction between our citizens and our institutions.

Even today, America continues to pursue these goals.  We are engaged in initiatives to promote trust and understanding between law enforcement officers and the communities we serve.  We are working with partners in the United States and around the world to pursue those who would deny human dignity, whether through trafficking or corruption, violence or terrorism.  And we are carrying out a historic reorientation of our criminal justice practices to end an overreliance on incarceration.  At every turn, we are driven by that same devotion to the rule of law whose seeds took root in this field so long ago.

Of course, our journey has not been easy, and it is far from over.  Just as men and women of great conscience and strong will have, over eight centuries, worked to advance the cause that animated their forebears – in nations around the world – we too must advance and extend the promise that lies at the heart of our global community.  We too must deliver on the spirit of Magna Carta.  And we too must carry forward our work to new fields of equality, opportunity and justice.

On the day that this monument was dedicated in 1957, one of the former presidents of the American Bar Association called his journey to Runnymede a “devout pilgrimage to the ancestral home, to the well springs of our profession, to the fountainhead of our faith.”  Today, we not only pay tribute to the source of our legal doctrine – we reaffirm our devotion to its values and recommit ourselves to the service of its most treasured ideals.  As we go forward, I am proud, I am honored and I am humbled to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with all of you in our shared pursuit of a more just world.

Thank you all, once again, for the opportunity to take part in this commemoration.  Thank you for your dedication to the ennobling ideals we are here to celebrate.  I look forward to all that our nations will achieve together in the spirit of their promise in the years ahead.

RECENT PHOTOS FROM THE U.S. AIR FORCE

FROM:  U.S. AIR FORCE 

An F-15E Strike Eagle from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, takes on fuel from a KC-135 Stratotanker March 28, 2014, during exercise Tonnerre Lightning. The exercise was a combined endeavor between U.S., British and French air force members to train for real world operations. The KC-135 is assigned to RAF Mildenhall, England. (U.S. Air Force photo-Airman 1st Class Dillon Johnston).

KC-135s refuel Idaho's A-10s in mid-flight 
First Lt. Micha Stoddard, flying the lead aircraft, and his wingman Capt. Casey Peasley fly their A-10 Thunderbolt IIs in an echelon formation March 26, 2014, enroute from Barksdale Air Force Base, La., to their home base in Boise, Idaho. The crews performed an in-air refueling with a Utah National Guard KC-135 Stratotanker after the air combat exercise Green Flag East. Stoddard and Peasley are with the 190th Fighter Squadron. (U.S. Air National Guard photo-Master Sgt. Becky Vanshur).

PARARESCUE TRAINING AT STANFORD TRAINING AREA, ENGLAND

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 
U.S. Air Force pararescue specialists take medical equipment and mock victims to a location for pick up on Stanford Training Area, England, Feb. 6, 2014. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Nigel Sandridge.

An HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter drops a pararescue specialist during an exercise on Stanford Training Area, England, Feb. 6, 2014. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Nigel Sandridge.

OSPREY COMES TO ENGLAND

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Ospreys migrate to England6/26/2013 - An MC-130H Combat Talon II from the 7th Special Operations Squadron refuels a CV-22B Osprey off the coast of Greenland, June 21, 2013. The CV-22, assigned to the 7th SOS, is the first of 10 slated to arrive as part of the 352nd Special Operations Group expansion, which is slated to last through the end of 2014. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Laura Yahemiak/Released)

RECENT U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTOS

FROM: U.S. AIR FORCE

A French Mirage 2000 prepares to refuel from a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker over Africa Feb. 2, 2013. Tanker crews from the 100th Air Refueling Wing, RAF Mildenhall, England, began conducting refueling missions in support of French operations in Mali from a deployed location in southwest Europe Jan 27. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Austin M. May/Released)

A French air force Mirage 2000 flies behind a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker over Africa Feb. 2, 2013. Tanker crews from the 100th Air Refueling Wing, RAF Mildenhall, England, began conducting refueling missions in support of French operations in Mali from a deployed location in southwest Europe Jan 27. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Austin M. May/Released)

U.S. AIR FORCE TRAINING AT STANFORD, ENGLAND

FROM:  U.S. AIR FORCE
STANFORD TRAINING AREA, England – Senior Airman Steven Trimble, 820th Base Defense Squadron close precision engagement team member, scouts an area during Regiment-hosted sniper training Feb. 28. The lush environment and rainy weather conditions of England provided a new element to the training atmosphere as the team learned to utilize the foliage and fog to discreetly stake out the village and observe their targets. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Cory D. Payne) (Released)