William J. Brennan Award

Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression

The William J. Brennan, Jr. Award honors the legacy of U. S. Supreme Court Justice Brennan's extraordinary devotion to the principles of free expression. The award recognizes an individual or group whose commitment to free expression is consistent with Justice Brennan's abiding devotion. Such commitment might be shown by a single act or through a lifetime of activity to enhance the liberties of free speech and press.

The award is given not more than once a year or less than once in five years. The honoree receives $5000.00 at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. and his or her name is placed on a plaque on display in Justice Brennan's chambers in the United States Supreme Court. Nominees from all professions and backgrounds are considered and nominations from the general public are invited.

District of Columbia Bar

The honor is presented biannually to a DC Bar member in recognition of "outstanding work toward furthering the public interest and equal justice." Edelman, an expert in poverty, welfare, juvenile justice and constitutional law, received the honor at the Bar's annual awards dinner on June 23.

International Commission of Jurists

The Brennan Award, made possible again this year by a generous grant from the Paul D. Schurgot Foundation, is presented to a non-American lawyer or judge who has made a notable contribution toward establishing or defending human rights and the rule of law.

Association of the Federal Bar of the State of New Jersey

William J. Brennan, Jr., Award. The Award, which is given annually by the Association of the Federal Bar of the State of New Jersey, honors those whose actions have advanced the principles of free expression. Judge Becker spent many years as a member of the ALI-ABA Committee and is a member of the Institute’s Special Committee on Federal Judicial Code Revision.

Recipients:

1977 – Hon. Joseph Weintraub

Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court

1978 – Hon. Worral F. Mountain

Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court

1979 – Hon. Richard J. Hughes

Governor of New Jersey and Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court

1979 – Clifford P. Case

United States Senator

1980 – Hon. William H. Webster

Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Former Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

1981 – Hon. Albert B. Maris

Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

1982 – Hon. Nicolas deB. Katzenbach

Attorney General of the United States

1983 – Hon. Robert N. Wilentz

Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court

1984 – Hon. Morris Pashman

Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court

1985 – Hon. Collins J. Seitz

Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

1986 – Hon. Frederick B. Lacey

United States Attorney and Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

1987 – Hon. Herbert J. Stern

United States Attorney and Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

1988 – Hon. Mitchell H. Cohen

Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

1988 – Hon. Leonard I. Garth

Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

1988 – Hon. James Hunter, III

Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

1989 – Hon. Clarkson S. Fisher

Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

1989 – William J. Brennan, III, Esq.

1990 – Hon. John J. Gibbons

Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

1991 – Hon. John F. Gerry

Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

1992 – Thomas F. Campion, Esq.

1993 – Hon. A. Leon Higginbotham

Former Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

1994 – Hon. David H. Souter

Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court

1995 – Hon. Harold A. Ackerman

Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

1995 – Hon. Stanley S. Brotman

Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

1995 – Hon. Dickinson R. Debevoise

Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

1996 – Hon. Robert L. Clifford

Retired Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court

1997 – Hon. Sidney M. Schreiber

Retired Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court

1997 – William B. McGuire, Esq.

1998 – Rev. Daniel A. Degnan, S.J.

Former Dean of the Seton Hall University School of Law

1998 – Hon. Herman D. Michels

Retired New Jersey Superior Court Judge

1999 – Hon. Robert E. Cowen

Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

1999 – Hon. Joseph H. Rodriguez

Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

2000 – Hon. Maryanne Trump Barry

Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

2000 – John J. Barry, Esq.

2001 – Hon. Anne E. Thompson

Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

2001 – Hon. Morton I. Greenberg

Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

2001 – Hon. Alfred M. Wolin

Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

2002 – Hon. John C. Lifland

Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

2002 – Hon. Nicholas H. Politan

Retired Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

2002 – Raymond A. Brown, Esq.

2003 – Donald A. Robinson, Esq.

2003 – Justin P. Walder, Esq.

2004 – Hon. Edward R. Becker

Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

2004 – Frederic K. Becker, Esq.

2005 – Hon. John W. Bissell

Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

2005 – Hon. Joseph E. Irenas

Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

2006 – Hon. William C. Bassler

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

2006 – Hon. William H. Walls

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

2007 – Hon. Marie L. Garibaldi

Retired Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court

2007 – Hon. Daniel J. O’Hern

Retired Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court

2008 – Hon. James R. Zazzali

Retired Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court

2008 – Jonathan L. Goldstein, Esq.

2009 – Hon. John J. Hughes

Retired Magistrate Judge for the District Court for the District of New Jersey

2009 – Bruce I. Goldstein, Esq.

2010 – Hon. Garrett E. Brown, Jr.

Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

2010 – Michael R. Griffinger, Esq.

2011 – Thomas R. Curtin, Esq.

2011 – Hon. Katharine S. Hayden

Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

2012 – John J. Farmer, Jr., Esq.

2012 – Carl D. Poplar, Esq.

2013 – Hon. Rosemary Gambardella

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

2013 – Theodore V. Wells, Jr., Esq.

2014 – Hon. Dennis M. Cavanaugh

Retired Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

2014 – Joseph A. Hayden, Jr., Esq.

2015 – Hon. Joseph A. Greenaway, Jr.

Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

2015 – Lawrence S. Lustberg, Esq.

National Trial Advocacy College at the University of Virginia School of Law.

With Justice Brennan's agreement and participation, the National Trial Advocacy College at the University of Virginia School of Law established the William J. Brennan, Jr. Award in 1987. The Brennan Award honors Justice Brennan's unsurpassed contributions to the United States legal system and, in particular, to the enhancement of trial advocacy skills. The honorees--judges, public officials, and private practitioners--are selected on the basis of 1) their outstanding skills as trial lawyers and members of the judiciary, and 2) their outstanding contributions to advocacy education and to the legal profession. An engraved pewter bowl is given to each recipient.

These persons have received the Brennan Award:

1987: Judah Best, Robert R. Merhige, Jr., Herbert J. Stern; 1988: Charles L. Becton, James D. StClair, Stephen A. Salzburg; 1989: William J. Brennan, III, Terence F. MacCarthy; 1990: John J. Curtin, Bruce I. Goldstein; 1991: Frederic N. Smalkin, Gregory P. Joseph, Peter J. Kenny; 1992: Thomas F. Campion, Stephen M. Duncan; 1993: James T. Turner, John C. Lowe; 1994: James M. Brown, Barry I. Fredericks, Charles B. Gorham; 1995: Ralph Adam Fine, Colin J.S. Thomas, Jr.; 1996: Raymond M. Tierney, Mary Lynn Tate, Edward R. Slaughter, Jr.; 1997: Stephen B. Farmer, Norman K. Moon; 1998: Stephen H. Helvin, Gerald A. Messerman; 1999: Helen S. Balick, Bernard Balick, Robert M. Taylor; 2000: Michael R. Fontham, B. Waugh Crigler; 2001: BrianJ. Donato, Arthur J. Schwab; 2002: David Boies, Gerald F. Ivey; 2003: James J. Brosnahan, David G. Lowe, Clifford R. Weckstein; 2004: Antonin G. Scalia; 2005: Peter Hill Beer, Adrian G. DuPlantier; 2006: Benjamin R. Civiletti, Peter J. Neufeld; 2007: Leonie M. Brinkema, Robert A. Clifford, Jo-Ellen Dimitrius; 2008: Barbara J. Rothstein, Theodore V. Wells, Jr., Kenneth R. Feinberg; 2009: Mortimer M. Caplin, Julian Abele Cook, Jr.; 2010: Otto F. Feil, III, Kathy L. Nusslock; 2011: Liam O'Grady; 2012: Russell E. Carparelli, Ricardo M. Urbina.