Book detailing 5 fights for democracy is among 2025 Silver Gavel Award winners
A new book about assaults on democracy by past American presidents is among the recipients of this year’s Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts.
On Wednesday, the ABA announced it will present eight Silver Gavel Awards—which recognize outstanding work that fosters the public’s understanding of law and the legal system—and five honorable mentions to finalists in the books, commentary, documentaries, magazines, multimedia, newspapers, radio and television categories.
The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It, written by Brown University professor Corey Brettschneider, took home the top prize in the books category. According to his publisher, W.W. Norton and Company, Brettschneider shows how citizens fought back against presidential abuses of power and helped restore democracy.
The ABA selected this year’s winners of the Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts from 24 finalists recognized in March. In total, the association received 122 entries.
“One of the many ways the ABA promotes the rule of law and our system of justice is through the Silver Gavel awards,” Ruth Bahe-Jachna, chair of the 16-member Standing Committee on Gavel Awards, said in the news release. “We were challenged as a selection committee to make very difficult decisions in determining this year’s award recipients because we had a truly outstanding group of semifinalists.”
“It is rewarding to see the depth of commitment and high quality that permeates our media and the arts in producing works that are accessible to the American public and help them achieve a greater understanding of and appreciation for our legal system,” Bahe-Jachna added.
The Silver Gavel Awards have been presented each year since 1958. This year, other winning works focused on jail fees, access to health care, evictions, civil rights, civics and delayed justice for sexual assault survivors.
ABA President Bill Bay will present the awards and honorable mentions Aug. 9 during the ABA Annual Meeting at the Sheraton City Centre in Toronto. The event is free and open to the public.
Here is the complete list of winners:
BOOKS
Silver Gavel: 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
Honorable Mention: The Fall of Roe by Elizabeth Dias and Lisa Lerer; Flatiron Books
COMMENTARY
Silver Gavel: “Ending Pay to Stay”: St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Tony Messenger, metro columnist; Alan Achkar, executive editor
DOCUMENTARIES
Silver Gavel: Zurawski v Texas: Out of Nowhere, Hidden Light Productions, Story Force; 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
Honorable Mention: 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
MAGAZINES
Silver Gavel: “The Eviction Cure”: Texas Monthly; J.K. Nickell, writer; Jeff Salamon, editor
Honorable Mention: “Courting Injustice”: Bloomberg Businessweek; Monte Reel, Sinduja Rangarajan, Michael Riley, reporters; Josh Hersh, producer
MULTIMEDIA
Silver Gavel: “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
Silver Gavel: “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
Honorable Mention: “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
RADIO
Silver Gavel: “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
Silver Gavel: “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
Honorable Mention: “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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