The Charles R. English-Neal Sonnett Award
Lucian E. Dervan is Professor of Law and Director of Criminal Justice Studies at Belmont University College of Law. He also serves as the Founding Director of the Plea Bargaining Institute, the global intellectual home for academics, policymakers, advocacy organizations, and practitioners working in the plea bargaining space. His research focusses on domestic and international criminal law, and he is the author of five books and dozens of journal articles and book chapters. In addition to his writings, Professor Dervan regularly lectures regarding criminal law, policy, and research. He has testified twice before the United States House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee and once before the Federal Senate of Brazil. He has also provided trainings for prosecutors, judges, and others from Montenegro and Ukraine at the invitation of the United States Department of State. In each area of his work, he strives to ensure that his research is relevant to essential public policy considerations and that his research holds the potential to lead to improvements in the law.
In addition to his scholarly pursuits, Professor Dervan currently serves as Chair of the ABA Global White Collar Crime Institute, which he founded in 2012. He has previously served on the ABA Board of Governors (2020-2023) and as Chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section (2018-2019) and the ABA Commission on the American Jury (2019-2020). In 2018-19, while serving as Chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section, he created a task force to examine the role of plea bargaining in the criminal justice system. He went on to Co-Chair the task force from 2019-2023. The Task Force included representatives from various corners of the criminal justice system – the prosecution, defense, judiciary, academy, various politically diverse advocacy groups, and the state and federal systems. In February 2023, the task force released its report, which contained 14 Principles to provide a path forward to a fairer, more transparent, and more just system of criminal adjudication. In August 2023, the Fourteen principles were presented to the American Bar Association House of Delegates in Resolution 502 and were overwhelmingly adopted as the official policy of the association.
About the Charles R. English-Sonnett Award
Awarded to judges, prosecutors, the defense bar, academics, and other attorneys who are members of the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section and have distinguished themselves by their work in the field of criminal justice.
Charles English was a California trial attorney who specialized in criminal defense cases. He was an active member of the American Bar Association, having served as a member of the Criminal Justice Section Council and Chairperson of the Section’s Committee on the Association Standards for Criminal Justice. He was well respected by members of the bench, and both prosecutors and defense bar.
This award was renamed the English-Sonnett Award in 2024 to honor the late Neal Sonnett, who was former Chair (1992-1993) of the ABA Criminal Justice Section. Neal, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney, had served on the ABA Board of Governors. He had been a member of the ABA House of Delegates for more than 20 years, representing the Criminal Justice Section.
Selection Criteria
Awardees will be judges, prosecutors, the defense bar, academics, and other attorneys who are members of the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section and have distinguished themselves by their work in the field of criminal justice, and who meet the following criteria:
- exemplify ethical and professional conduct.
- have provided exceptional service to the Criminal Justice Section.
- engage in activities that have increased the stature and professionalism of lawyers who practice in the criminal justice system.
- enhance the relationship between prosecutors and defense bar by setting an example that subordinates parochial defense bar and prosecution views in both professional and bar association endeavors in favor of achieving a result that promotes fairness and justice.
Nomination Guidelines
2025 Award Deadline – Dec. 1, 2025
Nominations should include:
- the CJS Awards Nomination Form.
- a letter addressing the selection criteria listed above.
- the nominee’s resume.
- any other supporting documentation of the nominee’s achievements in the criminal justice field.
Incomplete nomination packages will not be considered. Should no qualified candidate be identified in a particular year the award will not be presented that year.
Nominations must be emailed to [email protected]
Recipients
- 2000: Terence F. MacCarthy
- 2001: Neal Sonnett
- 2002: Michael Th. Johnson
- 2003: Hon. Andrew Sonner
- 2004: Prof. Stephen Saltzburg
- 2005: Albert Krieger
- 2006: Raymond Banoun
- 2007: Guantanamo Military Commissions Military Defense Counsel
- 2008: Michael S. Pasano
- 2009: Janet Levine
- 2010: Irwin Schwartz
- 2011: Robert Johnson
- 2012: Morris “Sandy” Weinberg
- 2013: Prof. Myrna Raeder
- 2014: Prof. Andrew Taslitz
- 2015: Ronald Goldstock
- 2016: James E. Felman
- 2017: Nina Marino
- 2018: Matthew Redle
- 2019: Judge Arthur L. Burnett
- 2020 : Judge Earnestine Gray
- 2021: Cynthia Eva Hujar Orr
- 2022: Ellen Yaroshefsky
- 2023: Leila Sadat
- 2024: Lucian Dervan