NYCLU Capital Region Annual Awards Ceremony

Join the Capital Region NYCLU for an annual awards celebration on Thursday, November 18 at 6pm.

You must be vaccinated to attend the event in person. Tickets are free but attendance is capped at 80.

ATTEND IN PERSON

WATCH LIVE

Music will be provided by Doug Marcus.

HONOREES

Ned Pattison Award | The Hon. Richard Conti, Albany Common Council 

Carol S. Knox Award | Noreen McKee, Rensselaer County LWV

Peter Henner Award | Ruth Foster, Environmental Activist

Friends ($200)

New York State Defenders Association
Prisoners’ Legal Services of NY

Honorary Committee ($100)

About The Peter Henner Award

Peter Henner was a decades-long friend of the NYCLU Capital Region Office who served on our board and legal committee.  He never forgot that the highest purpose of the law is to protect human rights, civil rights, and the environment from the greedy and the powerful.

A newspaper reporter once quoted Peter as saying, “I’ve always been tilting at windmills,” but that might suggest that his efforts were in vain, which was decidedly not the case.  Peter’s strategic mind, ferocious energy and rugged persistence made a lasting difference in the many legal challenges he undertook, such as opposing Albany County redistricting that would have short-changed minority communities; representing Save the Pine Bush when the reserve was threatened by landfill expansion, and undertaking the case against fracking in Otsego County.

Peter’s book, Human Rights and the Alien Tort Statute: Law, History and Analysis is recognized as a standard work in the field.  He was a committed environmental advocate, a runner, a hiker and he played chess at a very high level.

About The Carol S. Knox Award

The Capital Region Office has established this award to honor the memory of our friend Carol S. Knox.  A long‑time social activist and staunch civil libertarian, Carol had a deep commitment to constitutional liberties.  She grew up in a family of civil libertarians in North Carolina.  Carol and her husband, Lee Wasserman, met as volunteer attorneys at the NYCLU.  For decades, Carol, along with Lee, was a friend and generous supporter of our chapter.

She spent several years in the Attorney General's Office under Robert Abrams, working in the Legislative Bureau, the Environmental Protection Bureau, and the Litigation Bureau.  Earlier, Carol was an associate at Whiteman, Osterman & Hanna.

Carol was a remarkable woman, loved and respected by all who knew her for her sunny warmth, unfailing good humor and kindness, her wisdom, intelligence, strength, uncommon persistence and integrity.  The Carol S. Knox Award is given each year to recipients whose work reflects Carol's spirit and commitment to civil liberties.

About The Ned Pattison Award

The Ned Pattison Award celebrates the life and values of Edward W. “Ned” Pattison (d.1990), whose work as a public servant and private citizen showed his concern for the poor and the powerless.  Ned Pattison is remembered as a man who stuck to his principles--even when doing so jeopardized his personal ambitions.  His life sets an example for those in public service whom we seek to salute with the Ned Pattison Award.

As the Representative of the 29th Congressional District (Saratoga, Rensselaer, Warren, and Washington counties) from 1974 to 1978, Mr. Pattison was a consistent voice in opposition to the Vietnam War, and in support of civil rights, civil liberties, and the environment.  After leaving Washington, D.C., he returned to the Pattison law firm in Troy and taught at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.  Throughout his career, he provided pro bono legal services to the poor and was actively involved in numerous community organizations including Unity House of Troy and the Rensselaer County Association for Retarded Children.