WASHINGTON, March 22, 2023 —The American Bar Association today announced the 30 finalists for the 2023 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 winners will be announced on May 24. No more than one Silver Gavel is presented in each category. Honorable Mentions are also recognized, but awards are not presented in every category every year.
The ABA Gavel Awards Screening Committee of 50 professionals with wide ranges of legal and media expertise, including lawyer-members of the ABA, selected the 30 finalists from 165 entries received in all eligible categories, which include books, commentaries, documentaries, drama and literature, magazines, multimedia, newspapers, radio and television.
Selection criteria include how the entry addresses the Silver 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.
“We are pleased to announce our outstanding finalists in all nine award categories,” said Lisa Bail, chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Gavel Awards. “Thank you to the Gavel Awards Screening Committee for their dedicated review of the exceptional submissions we received this year. Congratulations to all of the finalists for their excellent work.”
The ABA has presented these awards each year since 1958. The 16-member ABA Standing Committee on Gavel Awards makes the final award decisions. ABA President Deborah Enix-Ross will present Silver Gavels and Honorable Mentions on July 25 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
To learn more about the Silver Gavel Awards, go to Silver Gavel (americanbar.org).
The following is a complete list of finalists with links to their work:
Books
“Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution”
The New Press
Elie Mystal, author
“Lady Justice: Women, the Law, and the Battle to Save America”
Penguin Press
Dahlia Lithwick, author
“G-Man”
Viking/Penguin Publishing Group
Beverly Gage, author
“Prosecuting Poverty, Criminalizing Care”
Cambridge University Press
Wendy A. Bach, author
“The Constitution in Jeopardy: An Unprecedented Effort to Rewrite Our Fundamental Law and What We Can Do About It”
PublicAffairs
Russ Feingold and Peter Prindiville, authors
“The Other Side of Prospect”
W.W. Norton & Company
Nicholas Dawidoff, author
“Tyrants on Twitter: Protecting Democracies from Information Warfare”
Stanford University Press
David L. Sloss, author
Commentary
“The Maddening Irrelevance of Charlie Vaughn's Innocence”
The Watch
Radley Balko, independent journalist
Documentaries
“American Justice on Trial: People v. Newton”
Open Eye Pictures
Lise Pearlman, producer
Abby Ginzberg and Robert Richter, co-producers
Andrew Abrahams, co-director, producer, principal DP, editor
Herb Ferrette, co-director
“Batali: The Fall of a Superstar Chef”
Left/Right TV
Ken Druckerman and Anneka Jones, executive producers
Singeli Agnew, director
Veronika Adaskova, producer
Ian Kelsey, associate producer
Irene Plagianos, consulting producer
Dena Mermelstein, lead editor
Chris O’Coin and Marlon Singleton, editors
Victor Tadashi Suarez, director of photography
Jeremy Gould, additional photography
David Ahuja, graphics
Jeremy Little, composition
“Pepsi, Where's My Jet?”
Boardwalk Pictures, Netflix
Andrew Renzi, director
Andrew Corkin, Nick Boak, Theo James, Andrew Fried, Jordy Wynn, Dane Lilegard, Sarina Roma, executive producers
Jeff Peterman, cinematographer
Wyatt Rogowski, Ed Greene, Ben Wolin, editors
Chase Deso, composer
“The Lost Story of Emmett Till”
NBC 5 Chicago (WMAQ-TV), Collaboraction Theatre Company
Marion Brooks, NBC Chicago, anchor and investigative reporter
DS Shin, NBC Chicago, photographer/editor
Tom Jones, NBC Chicago, investigative producer
Lauren Stauffer, NBC Chicago, managing editor
Lisa Balde, NBC Chicago, vice president of digital media
Akemi Harrison, NBC Chicago, assistant news director
Frank Whittaker, NBC Chicago, vice president of news
Kevin Cross, NBC Chicago, general manager
Saudia Davis, Collaboraction, executive director
Carla Stillwell, Collaboraction, producer
Marquis Simmons, Collaboraction, assistant director and associate producer
Pricilla Torres, Collaboraction, associate producer
Anthony Moseley, Collaboraction, artistic director
Dana N. Anderson, Collaboraction, co-director
G. Riley Mills and Willie Round, Collaboraction, co-writers of adaptation
“When Claude Got Shot”
371 Productions
Brad Lichtenstein, director
Steven Cantor, Brad Lichtenstein, Jamie Schutz, producers
Snoop Dogg, Sally Jo Fifer, Lois Vossen, Leslie Fields Cruz, Geralyn Dreyfous, Ted Chung, executive producers
Patty Quillin, co-executive producer
Santana Coleman, co-producer
Michelle Chang, editor
Colin Sytsma, director of photography
Vernon Reid, original music
Noland Walker, consulting producer
Shana Swanson, supervising producer
Drama & Literature
“Take My Hand”
Penguin Random House
Dolen Perkins-Valdez, author
“Trial in the Delta: The Murder of Emmett Till”
Collaboraction Theatre and NBC Chicago
Anthony Moseley, Collaboraction, producer/director/co-producer
Gary Mills, Collaboraction, co-writer
Willie Round, Collaboraction, co-writer
Carla Stillwell, Collaboraction, producer
Dana N. Anderson, Collaboraction, co-director
Marion Brooks and Lauren Staffer, NBC Chicago, producers
DS Shin, NBC Chicago, editor
Magazines
“The Rogue Court that Paved the Way for Roe's Demise”
Texas Monthly
Michael Hall, writer/executive editor
“The Secret Police”
MIT Technology Review
Tate Ryan-Mosley, reporter
Mat Honan, editor in chief
Michael Reilly, executive editor
Bobbie Johnson, editor
Linda Lowenthal, copy chief
Stephanie Arnett, art director
Emily Luong, art director
Sam Richards, freelance reporter
Jess Aloe, freelance contributing reporter
Sara Shay, freelance copy editor
Matt Mahoney and Cheryl Alkon, freelance fact-checkers
Multimedia
“Banking on Crime”
AL.com
Ashley Remkus, investigative reporter
John Archibald, reporter/columnist
Ramsey Archibald, data reporter
Challen Stephens, investigative editor
Joe Songer, photographer
Amanda Khorramabadi and Anissa Latham-Brown, Red Clay Media, video producers
Sydney Batten, Red Clay Media, video producer
Tamika Moore, Red Clay Media, managing producer
Jeremy Burns, Area 47 Sound, freelance audio engineer
Kavolshaia Howze, Reckon News, video producer
R.L. Nave, Reckon News, editor-in-chief
Taj Devore-Bey, freelancer cinematographer
Marsha Oglesby, Advance Originals, executive producer
“Eavesdropping in Maine Jails”
The Maine Monitor
Samantha Hogan, reporter
Eric Conrad and David Dahl, editors
George Harvey, multimedia editor
Hal Madsen, copyeditor
Rose Ciotta, Investigative Editing Corps., editor
Newspapers
“Captive no More: One SC Man’s Journey to Freedom After Years in Modern-day Slavery”
The Post and Courier
Jennifer Berry Hawes, watchdog and public service reporter
Autumn Phillips, executive editor
Glenn Smith, watchdog and public service editor
Andrew Whitaker, photojournalist
Brandon Lockett, digital graphics producer
“Hawaii v. Parental Rights”
Honolulu Civil Beat
John Hill, investigations editor
Anita Hofschneider, reporter,
April Estrellon, interactive developer
“Juvenile Injustice”
Star Tribune
Liz Sawyer and Chris Serres, reporters
MaryJo Webster, data editor
Jerry Holt, photojournalist
Bryan Brussee, digital designer
Josh Jones, lead news designer
Abby Simons, team leader, public safety
Eric Wieffering, deputy managing editor, enterprise and investigations
“The Prison Sell”
The Arizona Republic
Joseph Darius Jaafari, Jimmy Jenkins, Justin Price, Geoff Hing, reporting and analysis
Geoff Hing, Carlie Procell, Leah Trinidad, data/graphics/map production
Michael Chow, Rob Schumacher, Antranik Tavitian, Alberto Mariani, Megan Mendoza, photography
Merry Eccles, Andrea Brunty, digital design and illustrations
Kim Bui, Lexi Potter, Stacy Sullivan, Diana Payan, social media, engagement and promotion
Michael Braga, Chad Snow/KJZZ, Sky Schaudt/KJZZ, project editors
Becca Dyer, copy editor
Greg Burton, executive editor
Radio
“Affirmative Action Faces Toughest Test in a Generation”
Bloomberg Industry Group
Matthew S. Schwartz, host/producer
Josh Block, editor/executive producer
“Breakdown: Season 9, The Trump Grand Jury”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bill Rankin, creator/host/writer/senior reporter legal affairs
Tamar Hallerman, host/writer/senior reporter enterprise
Shane Backler, sound engineer/producer/senior producer, podcasts & audio content
Jay Black, audio & podcast program manager
Pete Corson, digital presentation specialist
“Missing Justice”
Paramount/CBS News/Neon Hum Media
Cara Korte and Bo Erickson, digital reporters at CBS News
Dr. Iris PrettyPaint, member of the Blackfeet Nation, descendent of the Crow Nation, sensitivity reader
Steve Raizes, executive vice president of podcasting and audio at Paramount
Megan Marcus, vice president of podcast editorial
Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews, executive vice president of newsgathering at CBS News
Mark Lima, DC bureau chief at CBS News
Jamie Benson, senior producer CBS News Radio
Jonathan Hirsch, executive Producer at Neon Hum
Joanna Clay, senior producer at Neon Hum
Liz Sanchez, associate producer at Neon Hum
Stephanie Serrano, associate editor at Neon Hum
Asha Iwanowicz, original music
Scott Sommerville, sound design
Epidemic Sound, additional tracks
Naomi Barr, fact checker
“Open and Shut”
Wisconsin Watch and Wisconsin Public Radio
Phoebe Petrovic, host/reporter
Phoebe Petrovic and Nina Earnest, producers
Dee J. Hall, reporter/managing editor/digital story editor
Enjoyiana Nururdin and Clare Amari, production assistants
Karen Given, editor
Coburn Dukehart, digital project manager
Alyssa Allemand and David Hyland, digital editors
Brad Kolberg, technical director
Karl Christenson, music
John Thomas Nichols, art direction
Angela Woodward, marketing specialist
Amanda Starich, Anna Rueden and Jane Jiumaleh, digital design
Christa Westerberg and Aaron Dumas, legal review
Andy Hall, Noah Ovshinsky, Bridgit Bowden, Madeline Heim and Wesley Lethem, additional support
Television
“Prosecuting Pregnancy Loss”
ABC News
Devin Dwyer, correspondent
Patty See, producer
Paul Strzegowski, editor
Duane Poquis, photographer
Hing Ng, audio technician
“Spotlight: Supreme Court”
ABC News
Devin Dwyer, correspondent
Sarah Herndon, Robert Gehlen and Isabella Meneses, producers
Paul Strzegowski, editor
Paul Dougherty, director of photography
Joey Ybarra, Lincoln Wiese and Sal Malguarnera, photographers
John Fonseca, Jeff Edrich and Larry Kaltenbach, audio technicians
“The CBS Evening News with Norah O'Donnell: Roe v Wade”
CBS News
Norah O’Donnell, anchor and managing editor
Adam Verdugo, executive producer
Alturo Rhymes, executive story editor
Elizabeth Turner, senior broadcast producer
Jan Crawford, Omar Villafranca, Jamie Yuccas, Lana Zak, Nancy Cordes and Elaine Quijano, correspondents
Julie Morse, Brian Gottlieb, Paul Facey, Sherri Sylvester, and Patrick Becker, senior producers
Robert Kozberg, Caroline Bol, Anam Siddiq, Chris Liable, Kate Rydell, Corey Rangel, Rebecca Kaplan, Rebecca Reingold, Durrell Dawson, Angela Moore, Maggie Dore and Olivia Rinaldi, producers
Brian McEneny, Stephen Boyd, Chris Hassan, Larry Goldfine, George Whipple, Gustavo Sampaio, Heather Spinelli, editors
The ABA is the largest voluntary association of lawyers in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.