ABA announces finalists for 2025 Silver Gavel Awards
The ABA has selected 24 finalists from the 122 entries it received for this year’s Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts. (mage from Shutterstock)
The ABA has selected 24 finalists from the 122 entries it received for this year’s Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts.
These awards, which recognize outstanding work that fosters the public’s understanding of law and the legal system, have been presented each year since 1958. Eligible categories include books, commentaries, documentaries, drama and literature, magazines, multimedia, newspapers, radio and television.
“We are excited to announce the 2025 finalists and extend our congratulations to the authors and creators of these exceptional works,” Ruth Bahe-Jachna, chair of the Standing Committee on Gavel Awards, said in a March 12 press release. “The submissions this year were outstanding.”
Bahe-Jachna also thanked the Gavel Awards Screening Committee, which she said “had the formidable task of reviewing all of the submissions and making difficult decisions.” It includes more than 50 professionals with legal and media expertise.
The winners will be announced on May 14.
The 16-member Standing Committee on Gavel Awards will make the final award decisions. No more than one Silver Gavel will be presented in each category. Honorable mentions are also recognized but not in every category every year.
ABA President Bill Bay will present the awards and honorable mentions on Aug. 9 during the association’s annual meeting in Toronto.
Here is the complete list of finalists:
BOOKS
Bringing Ben Home: A Murder, a Conviction, and the Fight to Redeem American Justice by Barbara Bradley Hagerty; Penguin Random House, Riverhead Books
By the Fire We Carry by Rebecca Nagle; HarperCollins Publishers
Dear Sister: A Memoir of Secrets, Survival, and Unbreakable Bonds by Michelle Horton; Grand Central Publishing
The Fall of Roe by Elizabeth Dias; Flatiron Books
The Most Powerful Court in the World by Stuart Banner; Oxford University Press
The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It by Corey Brettschneider; W.W. Norton and Company
COMMENTARY
“Ending Pay to Stay”: St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Tony Messenger, metro columnist; Alan Achkar, executive editor
“Strict Scrutiny: SCOTUS Hands Trump Presidential Immunity”: Crooked Media; Leah Litman, Melissa Murray, Kate Shaw, co-hosts; Melody Rowell, producer; Michael Goldsmith, associate producer; Madeleine Haeringer, executive vice president of news and programming; Matt DeGroot, vice president of production
DOCUMENTARIES
Nature of the Crime: Break Thru Films, HBO Documentary Films; Ricki Stern and Jesse Sweet, writers/producers/directors; Seth Keal, senior producer; Joe Caterini and Logan Snyder, executive producers; David Mehlman, editor; Jerry Risius, Michelle McCabe, Jonathan Nastasi and Seth Keal, directors of photography; Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller and Tina Nguyen, executive producers
The First Amendment: New York Times v Sullivan: Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics at the Annenberg Public Policy Center, The Documentary Group; Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director, Annenberg Public Policy Center; Tom Yellen, president, executive producer, The Documentary Group; Robe Imbriano, co-director/writer, narrator, The Documentary Group; Gregory Blanc, co-director/co-producer, The Documentary Group; Marc Tidalgo, co-producer/editor, The Documentary Group; Thomas Curtis, animator, The Documentary Group
The Sing Sing Chronicles: NBC News Studios, MSNBC Films, Trilogy Films; Kimberly Ferdinando, showrunner/executive producer, NBC News Studio; Liz Cole, executive producer, NBC News Studio; Dan Slepian, reporter, NBC News Studio; Rashida Jones, Rebecca Kutler, Amanda Spain, executive producers, MSNBC Films; Dawn Porter, director/executive producer, Trilogy Films; Laren Capps, Sadie Bass, producers; Rosie Walunas, editor; Bryant Fisher, Sean Gallagher, cinematographers; Nathan Halpern, music
Zurawski v Texas: Out of Nowhere; Maisie Crow, director/producer/director of photography; Abbie Perrault, director/producer; Amy Flanagan, Siobhan Sinnerton, Blye Pagon Faust, Cori Shepherd, producers; Austin Reedy, editor; Osei Essed, original music
MAGAZINES
“Courting Injustice”: Bloomberg Businessweek; Monte Reel, Sinduja Rangarajan, Michael Riley, reporters; Josh Hersh, producer
“The Eviction Cure”: Texas Monthly; J.K. Nickell, writer; Jeff Salamon, editor
MULTIMEDIA
“Brown v. Board of Education Revisited”: Northwestern University Knight Lab, Spooler, Respeecher, Idib Group, Neubottle; Jerry Goldman, professor, Northwestern University; Joe Germuska, executive director, Northwestern University Knight Lab; Andy Bowers, chief creative officer, Spooler; Kerry Donahue, executive producer, Spooler; Serhii Dvornyk, synthetic speech artist, Respeecher; Francesco Stagno d’Alcontres, CEO & UX lead designer, Idib Group; Pat Ward, owner, Neubottle; Dion Graham, voice actor; Karen Grisby Bates, narrator; Jeff Parsons, consultant
NEWSPAPERS
“Denied: Alabama’s Broken Parole System”: AL.com; Ivana Hrynkiw, reporter; Challen Stephens and Ashley Remkus, editors; Tamika Moore, photographer; Hannah Denham and Ramsey Archibald, data visualization
“Meth: The Prison Pipeline”: The Dallas Morning News; Kevin Krause, reporter; Jose Luis Adriano, data reporter
“Prison to Plate: Profiting Off America’s Captive Workforce”: The Associated Press; Robin McDowell and Margie Mason, investigative reporters; Kristin Gazlay, editor
“The Gutting of the Eighth Amendment”: Business Insider; Nicole Einbinder, correspondent; Hannah Beckler, senior editor; Sophie Kleeman, senior editor, investigations; Esther Kaplan, investigations editor; Narimes Parakul, researcher; Rosemarie Ho, research editor; Randy Yeip, data visualization director; Isabel Fernandez-Pujol, photo editor; Kim Nguyen, data and graphics fellow; Dan DeLorenzo, freelance data visualization
“Untested: For Thousands of Victims Whose Rape Kits Were Ignored, Justice Remains Elusive”: USA Today; Tricia L. Nadolny, Nick Penzenstadler, Jayme Fraser, Gina Barton, Dian Zhang, Savannah Kuchar, Lee Rood, reporters; Amy Pyle, Doug Caruso, Josh Susong, editors; Ariana Torrey, illustrator; Andrea Brunty, designer; Ramon Padilla, Javier Zarracina, Carlie Procell, graphic designers; Matthew Dae Smith, Abigail Dollins, Bryan Terry, Max Correa, Romain Blanquart, Aaron Martinez, Eva Marie Uzcategui, photographers; Jasper Colt, photographer/videographer; Lamar Salter, videographer; Nikol Mudrova, Sydney Bergan, Alan Nguyen, Ashley Lewis, Jessica Hilo, Tim Gardner, audience editors
RADIO
“AI and the Law, Explained: UnCommon Law’s 6-Episode Podcast Series”: Bloomberg Industry Group; Matthew Schwartz, host
“The (ir)Rational Alaskans from Cited Podcast”: Cited Media; Gordon Katic, host/lead producer/editor; Katy Davis, assistant producer; Sandra Bartlett, editor; Jay Cockburn, technical producer/mixer; Michael Pettit, research consulting and support
TELEVISION
“Citizen Nation”: Retro Report, PBS; For PBS: Margaret Ebrahim, executive in charge; Elizabeth O’Neil, associate director, content & strategy; Eboni Lemon, assistant director, programming; For Retro Report: Christopher Buck, Kyra Darnton, executive producers; Bret Sigler, series creator; Singeli Agnew, director; Veronika Adaskova, supervising producer; Benji Kast, Jane Jo, Anne Checler, Elana Meyers, editors; Emily Orr, Wesley Harris, field producers; Tom Brown, Victor Couto, line producers; Cole Cahill, associate producer; Cullen Golden, post production supervisor; Sylvia Cahill, Rebecca Losick, archival producers; Mimi Pfahler, archival associate producer; Ethan Weihl, archival researcher; Josh Markowitz, assistant editor; Robin Hilton, music composer; Casey Macker, graphics; Derek Knowles, Leslye Davis, Mariam Dwedar, Joel Van Haren, Chris Olson, directors of photography; Alex Pritz, Mike Shum, Ora DeKornfeld, Jason Blalock, Alex Witkowicz, Drew Bennett, Juan Castañeda, Andre Lambertson, Art Freeman, cinematography
“High Stakes at the Supreme Court”: ABC News; Devin Dwyer, correspondent; Sarah Herndon, Robert Zepeda, Patty See, producers; Michael Mendelsohn, Jon Schlosberg, senior producers; Bobby Gehlen, producer/photographer; Paul Strzegowski, editor; Steve Senn, Paul Ramsey, camera; Steve Widner, John Gurney, audio
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