WASHINGTON, March 16, 2022 —The American Bar Association today announced the 29 finalists for the 2022 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.
“We are so pleased to announce these impressive finalists in all nine award categories,” said Sharon Stern Gerstman, chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Gavel Awards. “Thank you to the Gavel Awards Screening Committee for their selections, and congratulations to all of the finalists for their excellent work.”
The winners will be announced on May 18. 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 29 finalists from 176 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.
The ABA has presented these awards each year since 1958. The 18-member ABA Standing Committee on Gavel Awards makes the final award decisions. ABA President Reginald Turner will present Silver Gavels and Honorable Mentions on July 12 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
“We are excited to be returning to the National Press Club for our presentation program,” said Gerstman. “The enthusiasm of the live ceremony and the spirit of the awardees inspire all who attend.”
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
“Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence”
Viking Books
Anita Hill, author
“Better, Not Bitter: Living in the Pursuit of Racial Justice”
Grand Central Publishing
Yusef Salaam, author
“Citadels of Pride”
W.W. Norton & Company
Martha C. Nussbaum, author
“Desperate”
Scribner
Kris Maher, author
“The Accidental History of the U.S. Immigration Courts: War, Fear, and the Roots of Dysfunction”
University of California Press
Alison Peck, author
“The Behavioral Code: The Hidden Ways the Law Makes Us Better or Worse”
Beacon Press
Benjamin van Rooij and Adam Fine, authors
Commentary
“Punitive Excess”
Brennan Center for Justice
Lauren-Brooke Eisen, director, justice program
Daniel Okrent, senior fellow
Documentaries
“A Crime on the Bayou”
Augusta Films LLC
Nancy Buirski, director/producer
Claire Chandler and Susan Margolin, producers
Anthony Ripoli, editor
“Amend: The Fight for America”
Netflix/Westbrook Studios/The Documentary
Group/Wilmore Films/MakeMake Entertainment
Robe Imbriano, co-creator/executive producer/story by
Tom Yellin, co-creator/executive producer
Will Smith, host/executive producer
Terrence Carter and Jana Babatunde-Bay, Jamal Watson, Angus Wall, Jamila Farwell, Adam Del Deo, executive producers
“My Name is Pauli Murray”
Amazon
Betty West and Julie Cohen, directors
Talleah Bridges McMahon, producer
Claudia Raschke, DP
Cinque Northern, editor
“The People v. The Klan”
CNN/Blumhouse Television
Donnie Eichar, director/executive producer
Cornell William Brooks, Jason Blum, Jeremy Gold, Mary Lisio, Amy Entelis, Lyle Gamm, executive producers
Drama & Literature
“The Sporting House Killing”
Gerald Powell, author/publisher
Magazines
“Black Legal History in Oklahoma: May 2021 Oklahoma Bar Journal”
Oklahoma Bar Association/Oklahoma Bar Journal
John Morris Williams, executive director/editor in chief
Lori Rasmussen, communications director
Melissa DeLacerda, chairperson
Lauren Rimmer, communications specialist
Carol Manning, communications director
“Legal Roadblocks to Police Accountability”
Gateway Journalism Review/Pulitzer Center
William Freivogel, publisher/grantee
Kallie Cox and Orli Sheffey, reporters
Steve Edwards, illustrator
Abbey La Tour, design chief/photographer
Jackie Spinner, editor
Multimedia
“Incarceration Transparency”
Loyola University New Orleans, Technology and Legal Innovation Clinic at Loyola Law School
Andrea Armstrong and Judson Mitchell, professors
“Mental Competency Consequences: The Hidden and Unreliable Data Texas Tracks... or Doesn’t”
KXAN
Josh Hinkle, director of investigations and innovation
David Barer, senior investigative producer
Ben Friberg, photographer
Eric Henrikson, creative producer
Rachel Gale, graphic artist
Robert Sims, digital special projects developer
Kate Winkle, digital director
“Un(re)solved”
Frontline
Tamara Shogaolu, creative director
Newspapers
“Hidden Interests”
The Wall Street Journal
Michael Siconolfi, investigations editor
James Grimaldi, investigative reporter
Coulter Jones and Joe Palazzolo, reporters
“Outgunned”
CalMatters
Robert Lewis, reporter
Marji Lundstrom, deputy editor
Jeremia Kimelman, data producer
Joel Sappell, contributing editor
“The Real Damage”
The Washington Post
Hannah Dreier, national enterprise reporter
Andrew Ba Tran, investigative data reporter
“Unsettled: Cashing in on Accident Victims”
Star Tribune
Jeffrey Meitrodt, investigative reporter
Nicole Norfleet and Adam Belz, reporters
Jeff Wheeler, photojournalist
CJ Sinner, director of graphics & data visuals
Thomas Oide, digital designer
“Waiting for Justice”
CalMatters
Robert Lewis, reporter
Marla Cone, deputy editor
Jeremia Kimelman, data reporter
Radio
“Civics 101: Supreme Court Series”
Civics 101
Nick Capodice, host
Hannah McCarthy, host/producer
Jacqui Fulton, producer
Erika Janik, executive producer
“On Our Watch”
National Public Radio/KQED
Liana Simstrom, supervising producer/project manager
Sukey Lewis, host/reporter
Sandhya Dirks, producer/reporter
Nicole Beemsterboer, Alex Emslie and Leila Day, editors
Huo Jingnan, data editor
Adelina Lancianese, producer
Nina Sparling and Cynthia Betubiza, assistant producers
“The Trials of Frank Carson”
Los Angeles Times
Christopher Goffard, staff writer
Steve Clow, deputy metro editor
Abbie Fentress Swanson and Ben Adair, executive producers
Alex McInnis, composer/sound designer
Television
“A Promise to Ahmaud”
48 Hours
Omar Villafranca, correspondent
“60 Minutes: Attack on the Judiciary”
CBS News 60 Minutes
Bill Owens, executive producer
Tanya Simon, executive editor
Bill Whitaker, correspondent
Heather Abbott, producer
LaCrai Mitchell, associate producer
Craig Crawford, editor
“Crisis in Corrections”
WFTS/ABC Action News
Adam Walser and Kylie McGivern, investigative reporters
Melanie Payne, executive producer
Matt McGlashen, photographer/editor
“Probate Problems: Reforming Michigan’s Guardianship Laws”
WXYZ-TV
Heather Catallo, investigative reporter
Kimberly Craig, reporter
Johnny Sartin, Jr. and John Ciolino videographers
Randy Lundquist, video editor
The ABA is 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.