July 4, 2025 - The Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights were recited at the 1885 Historic Courthouse on July 3, 2025, in recognition of Independence Day.
Lawyers April Prince, Stephen Shires, Scott Peal and Jeff Adams gathered before the courthouse and took turns reading portions of the text.
The program opened with Stephen Shires explaining what they would be reading and introducing the other lawyers present.
The reading of the Declaration of Independence (Video 2:50) was performed first followed by the reading of the Bill of Rights (Video 12:15) which are the first 10 amendments of the Constitution.
A new addition for 2025 was the includision of "The American's Creed," read by Maggie Casto (Video 17:20) who was present and is a member if the Daughters of the American Revolution and Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
A goal of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association is for there to be a formal reading of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights to be performed annually in each of the 254 Texas counties.
