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3
4
5
6
7 Cosponsors:
8 J. Stuart Adams
9 Curtis S. Bramble
10 Allen M. Christensen
11 Jim Dabakis
12 Gene Davis
13 Margaret Dayton
14 Luz Escamilla
15 Wayne A. Harper
16 Deidre M. Henderson
Lyle W. Hillyard
David P. Hinkins
Jani Iwamoto
Alvin B. Jackson
Scott K. Jenkins
Peter C. Knudson
Mark B. Madsen
Karen Mayne
Ann Millner
Wayne L. Niederhauser
Ralph Okerlund
Aaron Osmond
Brian E. Shiozawa
Jerry W. Stevenson
Daniel W. Thatcher
Stephen H. Urquhart
Kevin T. Van Tassell
Evan J. Vickers
Todd Weiler
17
18 LONG TITLE
19 General Description:
20 This joint resolution of the Legislature recognizes the 800th anniversary of Magna
21 Carta.
22 Highlighted Provisions:
23 This resolution:
24 ▸ recognizes the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta; and
25 ▸ recognizes that principles embodied in Magna Carta, including freedom, justice, the
26 rule of law, and that no leader is above the law, have stood the test of time and
27 sustain free people and nations today.
28 Special Clauses:
29 None
30
31 Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
32 WHEREAS, Magna Carta is an 800-year-old document, marked by the seal of King
33 John of England in 1215, containing the idea that no one is above the law;
34 WHEREAS, Magna Carta still forms the foundation of many modern ideas and
35 documents today;
36 WHEREAS, Magna Carta means "Great Charter" in Latin;
37 WHEREAS, Magna Carta was not the first document in which a monarch agreed in
38 writing to safeguard the rights, privileges, and liberties of the clergy and the nobles by placing
39 limits on the power of the crown;
40 WHEREAS, thirty-four years after the Norman Conquest, Henry I set a precedent on
41 his accession to the throne in 1100 when he issued a royal proclamation, the Coronation
42 Charter, designed to atone for the past abuses of his predecessor, William Rufus;
43 WHEREAS, the principles included in the Coronation Charter dated back to the laws of
44 King Ethelbert of Kent, circa 604, and subsequent laws of the kings of Kent leading up to the
45 end of the first millennium;
46 WHEREAS, even though the Coronation Charter is acknowledged as the precursor to
47 Magna Carta, it was forgotten or ignored by four kings, and almost one queen, over the course
48 of the next century;
49 WHEREAS, it was only after the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton, showed
50 Henry I's 113-year-old proclamation to England's barons that the idea of a new and improved
51 charter took hold;
52 WHEREAS, by this time, other charters containing principles included in Magna Carta
53 had achieved traction and acquired a heritage, demonstrating that even proclamations of over a
54 100 years old could be used as leverage and justification to force a reluctant king to respect
55 certain individual liberties;
56 WHEREAS, Magna Carta originated as a peace treaty between King John and his
57 barons, who had captured London;
58 WHEREAS, Magna Carta was first drafted in June 1215 and granted by King John,
59 who used his Great Seal to authenticate the document at Runnymede, in Surrey;
60 WHEREAS, despite the pageantry at Runnymede, Magna Carta suffered a similar,
61 more rapid demise than Henry I's Coronation Charter;
62 WHEREAS, although King John agreed to Magna Carta at first, he quickly became
63 bitter when its terms were enforced;
64 WHEREAS, King John wrote to Pope Innocent III to get Magna Carta annulled;
65 WHEREAS, the Pope agreed with King John, saying Magna Carta was "illegal, unjust,
66 harmful to royal rights and shameful to the English people," and declared the charter "null and
67 void of all validity forever";
68 WHEREAS, by August 1215, the Pope had annulled the document;
69 WHEREAS, full-scale civil war then broke out between King John and his barons,
70 which did not end until after King John's death in 1216;
71 WHEREAS, a more modern version of Magna Carta was reissued by King John's son,
72 Henry III, in 1225;
73 WHEREAS, Magna Carta was finally enrolled as part of English law by Edward I in
74 1297;
75 WHEREAS, Magna Carta inspired the charismatic Simon de Montfort;
76 WHEREAS, de Montfort, an Anglo-Norman rebel nobleman, convened a parley in a
77 field near Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire, in 1264;
78 WHEREAS, the parley was not only in defiance of King Henry III, but was radical in
79 that it provided for democratically elected knights and borough representatives from
80 throughout the kingdom and is recognized as the first directly elected Parliament;
81 WHEREAS, at the conclusion of the English Civil War when the monarchy of Charles
82 II was restored, Magna Carta helped codify the ancient writ of habeas corpus passed by
83 Parliament in 1679;
84 WHEREAS, this act strengthened the ancient and powerful writ, which had been a
85 feature of English Common Law since before Magna Carta, and served to safeguard individual
86 liberty by preventing unlawful or arbitrary imprisonment;
87 WHEREAS, ideas of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law to which all are subject
88 and that are such a feature of Magna Carta, spread to the rebellious colonies of the New World;
89 WHEREAS, the Declaration of Independence, as penned by Thomas Jefferson, indicted
90 George III on numerous breaches of English Common Law enshrined within Magna Carta, to
91 which the 13 colonies were equally bound;
92 WHEREAS, the Declaration of Independence, signed July 4, 1776, became the legal
93 justification for the Revolutionary War;
94 WHEREAS, Magna Carta has become much more than a peace treaty between a
95 quarrelsome king and his barons in 1215;
96 WHEREAS, over the past 800 years, the ideals of Magna Carta have gathered
97 momentum and assumed a greater authority concerning liberty and justice;
98 WHEREAS, Magna Carta's lasting iconic value as the foundation of so many world
99 democracies lies in the power of an idea, a principle, which states that nobody, including the
100 king, is above the law of the land;
101 WHEREAS, central clauses of Magna Carta have not only stood the test of time, but
102 have a potency of their own that has defeated hundreds of attempts at annulment, repeal,
103 modification, and suspension by successive monarchs and governments;
104 WHEREAS, Magna Carta has transcended barriers of language and the divisions of
105 cultures and ideologies;
106 WHEREAS, Magna Carta has become an idea that can never be uninvented or
107 unimagined;
108 WHEREAS, 800 years later, the ideas of freedom and justice have become essential
109 parts of humankind;
110 WHEREAS, even today, Magna Carta is invoked and cited whenever basic freedoms
111 come under threat;
112 WHEREAS, the principles in Magna Carta will no doubt continue to have a huge
113 influence wherever freedom is under attack;
114 WHEREAS, on the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta, it is time to deepen our
115 understanding of the crucial role it has played in the development of human rights, democracy,
116 and liberty; and
117 WHEREAS, there are hundreds of events and activities, including many sponsored by
118 the Magna Carta 2015 Committee, being planned and taking place to commemorate 800 years
119 of Magna Carta:
120 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah
121 recognizes the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta.
122 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah recognizes that
123 principles embodied in Magna Carta, including freedom, justice, and the rule of law, have
124 stood the test of time and sustained free people and nations today.
125 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to President of the
126 United States, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States
127 House of Representatives, the Magna Carta 2015 Committee, and the members of Utah's
128 congressional delegation.