Attorney and Advocacy Group to Share $500K Gruber Foundation International Justice Prize
Each Has Set in Motion Dramatic Changes to
Help Victims of Discrimination Gain Access to Equal Justice
New York, NY (PRWEB) June 10, 2009 - The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation (www.gruberprizes.org) today announces that, on the tenth anniversary of the Gruber Prize Program, it will award its 2009 Justice Prize to an individual and an organization for their tireless advocacy of human rights for individuals belonging to oppressed groups that historically have not had an effective voice in, or access to, the justice system:
Bryan Stevenson - executive director of Equal Justice Initiative (EJI; http://eji.org/eji/), which represents indigent defendants, death row inmates, and juveniles who have been denied fair and just treatment in the legal system. With his staff, Stevenson has largely been responsible for reversals and reduced sentences in more than 75 death penalty cases. He has provided an effective training and consulting resource for counsel representing death row inmates and is spearheading litigation in 19 states to get a fair review of sentencing and parole-eligible re-sentencing. Stevenson has been consistently recognized by the National Law Journal as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America.
European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) - an international public interest law organization that combats anti-Romani racism and human rights abuse of Roma in Europe. ERRC (http://www.errc.org/) has set in motion more than 500 court cases in 15 countries to bring to justice state and non-state actors who have discriminated against Romani individuals in education, housing, employment, healthcare and other areas, or have committed violence against them. It has secured over 2 million euro in compensation for Romani individuals for the abuse they suffered and the subsequent failure of their respective governments to ensure justice.
The Gruber Justice Prize will be awarded in a ceremony this fall celebrating the achievements of the recipients, who will share the $500,000 prize.
"The work of Bryan Stevenson and that of the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) demonstrate what can be accomplished against tremendous odds when highly principled, knowledgeable, and committed people appeal for justice," said Judge Bernice Donald, U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee. "In securing access to justice for those most in need of protection from discrimination - including, at times, discrimination within the legal system itself - Bryan Stevenson and ERRC assist oppressed minorities in developing the voice and arguments they need to demand equal justice under law. Their work is a model for human rights advocacy and presents a compelling case for the necessity of focusing on and developing public interest law in legal education and practice."
The Gruber Foundation Justice Prize is presented to individuals or organizations for contributions that have advanced the cause of justice as delivered through the legal system. The award is intended to acknowledge individual efforts, as well as to encourage further advancements in the field and progress toward bringing about a fundamentally just world.
Members of the committee that selected the 2009 Justice Prize recipients:
| | - Giuseppe Bisconti, Studio Legale Bisconti
- Arthur Chaskalson, Constitutional Court of South Africa (Ret.)
- Param Cumaraswamy, Barrister-at-law at Inner Temple, London
Advocate and Solicitor in Kuala Lumpur
- Bernice Donald, U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee
- Carmen Maria Argibay, Supreme Court of Justice of Argentina
- Martin Lee, Office of Mr. Martin C.M. Lee, QC., SC
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The Gruber International Prize Program honors contemporary individuals in the fields of Genetics, Neuroscience, Justice, Women's Rights and Cosmology (2009 Cosmology Prize recipient info: http://www.gruberprizes.org/GruberPrizes/Cosmology_LaureateOverview.php?awardid=49), whose groundbreaking work provides new models that inspire and enable fundamental shifts in knowledge and culture. The Selection Advisory Boards choose individuals whose contributions in their respective fields advance our knowledge, potentially have a profound impact on our lives, and, in the case of the Justice and Women's Rights Prizes, demonstrate courage and commitment in the face of significant obstacles.
The tenth anniversary of the Prize Program will be celebrated on July 1, 2009, in an event at Rockefeller University in New York City. The event will include a symposium entitled "DNA, the Brain, and Society," featuring distinguished scientists David Botstein, Linda Buck, Fred Gage, and Solomon Snyder. To attend the event or to obtain additional information, visit http://www.gruberprizes.org/GruberPrizes/TenthAnniversary.php.
The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation honors and encourages educational excellence, social justice and scientific achievements that better the human condition. For more information about Foundation guidelines and priorities, please go to: www.gruberprizes.org.
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