ABA announces finalists for 2017 Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts

The American Bar Association today announced the 19 finalists for the 2017 Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts, which recognize outstanding work 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 ABA’s Gavel Awards Screening Committee members were challenged to select finalists among so many worthy entries,” said Stephen C. Edds, chair of the Standing Committee on Gavel Awards. “We congratulate our finalists and look forward to identifying awardees among an already select group.”

The winners will be announced on May 10.

No more than one Silver Gavel is presented in each category. Honorable mentions are also awarded, but awards are not presented in every category in every year.

The ABA Gavel Awards Screen­ing Committee, composed of 45 lawyer-members of the ABA, selected the 19 finalists from 156 entries received in all eligible categories, which include books, commentary, documentaries, drama and literature, magazines, multimedia, newspapers, radio and television.

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 each year since 1958, which makes 2017 the 60th annual presentation. The 18-member ABA Standing Committee on Gavel Awards makes the final award decisions. ABA President Linda Klein will present Silver Gavels and Honorable Mentions on July 18 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

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
• “Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy”
Heather Ann Thompson, author
Penguin Random House/Pantheon Books
http://www.penguinrandom house.com/books/178182/blood-in-the-water-by-heather-ann-thompson/9780375423222/

• “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City”
Matthew Desmond, author
Penguin Random House/ Crown Publishers
http://www.penguinrandom house.com/books/247816/evicted-by-matthew-desmond/97805534 47453/

• “The Framers’ Coup: The Making of the United States Constitution”
Michael Klarman, author
Oxford University Press
https://global.oup.com/academ ic/product/the-framers-coup-9780 199942039?cc=us&lang=en&

• “Imbeciles: The Supreme Court, American Eugenics, and the Sterilization of Carrie Buck”
Adam Cohen, author
Penguin Random House/Penguin Books
http://www.penguinrandom house.com/books/529315/imbec iles-by-adam-cohen/978014310 9990

• “Vagrant Nation: Police Power, Constitutional Change, and the Making of the 1960s”
Risa Goluboff, author
Oxford University Press
https://global.oup.com/academ ic/product/vagrant-nation-978019 9768448?q=vagrant%20nation&lang=en&cc=us

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COMMENTARY

“It’s Been 40 Years Since the Supreme Court Tried to Fix the Death Penalty — Here’s How It Failed”

The Marshall Project

Evan Mandery, professor

John Jay College of Criminal Justice

https://www.themarshallproj ect.org/2016/03/30/it-s-been-40-years-since-the-supreme-court-tried-to-fix-the-death-penalty-here-s-why-it-failed#.QAPugtylD

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DOCUMENTARIES

• “Admissions on Trial: Seven Decades of Race and Higher Education”

Villita Media for KLRU-TV

Lynn Boswell, producer, director and writer

Paul Sweeney, Editor

http://www.pbs.org/video/2365023444/

• “Do Not Resist”

VANISH Films

Craig Atkinson, director

Laura Hartrick, producer

http://www.donotresistfilm.com/

• “Trapped”

Trilogy Films

Dawn Porter, director

Marilyn Ness, producer

http://www.trappeddocumentary.com/

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MAGAZINES

“Where the Death Penalty Still Lives”

New York Times Magazine

Emily Bazelon, staff writer

Ilena Silverman, features editor

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/28/magazine/where-the-death-penalty-still-lives.html?_r=0

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MULTIMEDIA

“Doubled Up In Solitary Confinement”

National Public Radio and

The Marshall Project

Joseph Shapiro, correspondent, NPR

Christie Thompson, staff writer, The Marshall Project

Ruth Baldwin, director of communications, The Marshall Project

Robert Little, senior supervising editor, Investigations, NPR

http://www.npr.org/2016/03/24/470824303/doubling-up-prison ers-in-solitary-creates-deadly-consequencesURLL

http://www.npr.org/2016/10/26/498582706/inside-lewisburg-prison-a-choice-between-a-violent-cellmate-or-shackles

http://www.npr.org/2016/10/27/499637384/solitary-confinement-methods-often-lead-to-violence-at-lewisburg-prison

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NEWSPAPERS

• “A Cry for Help”

Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

Suki Dardarian, managing editor

Jennifer Bjorhus, Kelly Smith and Libor Jany, reporters

http://www.startribune.com/a-cry-for-help/374523971/

• “Forsaken: Florida’s Broken Mental Health System”

Sun Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)

Dana Banker, managing editor

Megan O’Matz, Sally Kestin and Stephen Hobbs, reporters

John Maines, database editor

http://projects.sun-sentinel. com/projects/forsaken/

• “No Money, No Mercy”

The New York Times

Andrew Lehren and Shaila Dewan, reporters

Christine Kay, enterprise editor

Scott Blumenthal, deputy editor, Interactive News

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/12/us/crime-criminal-justice-reform-diversion.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/13/us/alabama-prosecutor-valeska-criminal-justice-reform. html

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RADIO

“...and justice for all.”

Alabama Public Radio

Pat Duggins, news director

Stan Ingold, assistant news director

Alex AuBuchon and Mackenzie Bates, news hosts/reporters

http://apr.org/post/and-justice-all-series-alabama-public-radio? nopop=1#stream/0

• “More Perfect”

WNYC Studios

Jad Abumrad, executive producer, host, creator

Suzie Lechtenberg, executive producer

Kelsey Padgett, producer, reporter

Sean Rameswaram, correspondent

Tobin Low, producer

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolabmoreperfect/episodes

• “This Land Is Our Land”

Oregon Public Broadcasting

Anna Griffin, news director

David Blanchard, producer

http://www.opb.org/news/series/burns-oregon-standoff-bundy-militia-news-updates/occupation-trial-podcast-this-land-is-our-land/

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TELEVISION

• “The Border”

FOX5 Las Vegas

Christine Maddela, news anchor

http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/33673452/the-border-a-fox5-special-report-on-immigration

• “48 Hours: The Fight for Melissa”

48 Hours/CBS News

Charlotte Fuller, Lourdes Aguiar and Gail Abbott Zimmerman, producers

Judy Tygard, senior producer

Susan Zirinsky, executive producer

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-fight-for-melissa/