The American Bar Association has announced 19 finalists for the 2014 Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts, which recognize outstanding work in media and the arts that fosters the American public’s understanding of law and the legal system. This is the ABA’s highest honor in recognition of this purpose.
“The finalists result from a rigorous review process by the ABA’s Gavel Awards Screening Committee,” said Cory M. Amron, chair of the 18-member Standing Committee on Gavel Awards, which selects award winners. “We commend all of these finalists for their efforts to advance public understanding of law and the justice system.”
The winners will be announced on May 15.
The ABA Gavel Awards Screening Committee, composed of 47 lawyer-members of the ABA, selected the 19 finalists from 169 entries received in all eligible categories, which include: books, newspapers, magazines, commentary, documentaries, drama and literature, radio, television and other media. No more than one Silver Gavel Award is presented in each category.
Selection criteria include: how the entry addresses the Gavel Awards’ purpose and objectives; educational value of legal information; impact on, or outreach to, the public; thoroughness and accuracy in presentation of issues; creativity and originality in approach to subject matter and effectiveness of presentation; and demonstrated technical skill in the entry’s production.
The association has presented these awards annually since 1958.
The awards presentation will be from 6 – 7:30 p.m. July 22 in Washington, D.C. ABA President James R. Silkenat will present the Silver Gavel Awards to honorees.
To learn more about the Silver Gavel Awards, go to www.ambar.org/gavelawards.
The following is a complete list of finalists with links to their work:
Books —
“American Epic: Reading the U.S. Constitution”
Garrett Epps, Author
Oxford University Press
http://global.oup.com/academic/product/american-epic-9780199974740;jsessionid=7932A0D10DA630BEA24895E7DE73082F?cc=us&lang=en&
“The Roberts Court: The Struggle for the Constitution”
Marcia Coyle, Author
Simon & Schuster
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Roberts-Court/Marcia-Coyle/9781451627510
“States of Union: Family and Change in the American Constitutional Order”
Mark E. Brandon, Author
University Press of Kansas
http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/brasta.html
“The Terror Courts: Rough Justice at Guantanamo Bay”
Jess Bravin, Author
Yale University Press
http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300189209
“A Wild Justice: The Death and Resurrection of Capital Punishment in America”
Evan J. Mandery, Author
W.W. Norton & Company Inc.
http://books.wwnorton.com/books/A-Wild-Justice/
Commentary —
“An American Gulag”
The Atlantic
Andrew Cohen, Author
http://www.theatlantic.com/personal/archive/2012/06/an-american-gulag/258818/
Documentaries
“Gideon’s Army”
Trilogy Films
Dawn Porter, Director/Producer
Julie Goldman, Producer
Matthew Hamachek, Editor
http://gideonsarmythefilm.com/
“Dirty Wars”
Civic Bakery
Jeremy Scahill, Writer/Producer
Richard Rowley, Director
David Riker, Writer/Editor
Anthony Arnove and Brenda Coughlin, Producers
http://dirtywars.org/
Drama & Literature —
“A Case of Redemption”
Adam Mitzner, Author
Simon & Schuster
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Case-of-Redemption/Adam-Mitzner/9781451674804
Magazines —
“Heavyweight: How Ruth Bader Ginsburg Has Moved the Supreme Court”
The New Yorker
Jeffrey Toobin, Author
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/03/11/130311fa_fact_toobin
“Welcome to the 36th”
The American Prospect
Kit Rachlis, Editor-in-Chief
Kat Aaron, Contributor
http://prospect.org/article/peoples-court
Newspapers —
“Reinvestigating Rape: Old Evidence, New Answers”
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio)
Debra Adams Simmons, Editor
Rachel Dissell and Leila Atassi, Reporters
http://www.cleveland.com/rape-kits/
“Twice Betrayed”
San Antonio (Texas) Express-News
David Sheppard, Projects Editor
Karisa King and Sig Christenson, Reporters
Lisa Krantz, Photographer
Jose Luis Rios, Director of Photography
http://www.mysanantonio.com/twice-betrayed/
Other Media —
SCOTUSblog
Tom Goldstein, Publisher
Amy Howe, Editor/Reporter
Lyle Denniston, Reporter
Kali Borkoski, Manager
Andrew Hamm, Deputy Manager
http://www.scotusblog.com/
“In the Name of the Law: What the Public Isn’t Being Told About Police Misconduct”
Honolulu Civil Beat
Patti Epler, Editor
Nick Grube, Reporter
Joe Rubin, Videographer
http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/02/25/18393-in-the-name-of-the-law-what-the-public-isnt-being-told-about-police-misconduct/
Radio —
“The Constitutional Right to Bear Arms Has Outlived Its Usefulness”
Intelligence Squared U.S.
Dana Wolfe, Executive Producer
John Donvan, Host/Moderator
Lia Macko, Producer
Kris Kamikawa, Director of Research
Maureen McMurray, Radio Producer
http://www.intelligencesquaredus.org/debates/upcoming-debates/item/907-the-constitutional-right-to-bear-arms-has-outlived-its-usefulness
“Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl”
Radiolab
Jad Abumrad, Host/Editor
Robert Krulwich, Host
Tim Howard, Producer
http://www.radiolab.org/story/295210-adoptive-couple-v-baby-girl/
Television —
“The Invisible War”
Chain Camera Pictures
Kirby Dick, Director
Tanner Barklow and Amy Ziering, Producers
http://invisiblewarmovie.com/
“Constitution USA with Peter Sagal”
Twin Cities Public Television
Stephen Ives, Director
Amanda Pollak, Producer
Catherine Allan, Executive Producer
Jaime Bernanke, Co-Writer
Peter Sagal, Host
http://www.pbs.org/tpt/constitution-usa-peter-sagal/home/
