NYCLU to Honor Two Local Champions of Civil Liberties at Annual Spring Dinner on June 9

Marsha Weissman, executive director of the Center for Community Alternatives (CCA), will receive the Kharas Award for Distinguished Service in Civil Liberties, which the chapter presents annually to an individual who has taken direct action to protect or promote civil liberties. Previous winners of the Kharas Award have included Jerry Berrigan, Alan Rosenthal, Karen DeCrow, Vivian Moore, Joseph Heath, Bill Cuddy, Kathleen Rumpf, Magda Bayoumi, Michael Schwartz, Donna Reese and Beth Broadway.

Attorney Susan Horn, president and CEO of the Hiscock Legal Aid Society, will be the first-ever recipient of the Seidenberg Award, a new honor named after noted civil rights attorney Faith Seidenberg. This new award was created to recognize members of the legal community who have furthered the cause of civil rights and civil liberties.

Under Weissman’s leadership, the Center for Community Alternatives has become a powerful statewide advocate for fairness and equity in the justice system on behalf of criminal defendants, at-risk youth and those returning to society from prison. Weissman has worked tirelessly to promote humane and sensible alternatives to incarceration and to identify the damaging consequences of harsh discipline in public schools. She was also a leader in the successful statewide campaign to reform the state’s draconian Rockefeller Drug Laws.

Horn has devoted her life to assisting underserved and marginalized members of society. She has defended inmates implicated in the Attica prison riots as well as activists arrested after protesting against nuclear weapons and cruise missiles at Griffiss Air Force Base and the Seneca Army Depot. As leader of the Hiscock Legal Aid Society, she has proven herself a steadfast champion of the right of poor defendants to constitutional guarantees of due process and effective legal counsel. She has steered the Legal Aid Society through many challenges, upholding and preserving its mission to ensure fairness in the court system and to balance the scales of justice.

What: Central New York Chapter NYCLU Annual Spring Dinner and Awards Ceremony

When: Wednesday, June 9, reception at 6 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m., and the awards program at 8 p.m.

Where: Lafayette Hills Golf and Country Club, 4480 Lafayette Road in Jamesville

Tickets: Tickets are $75 per person, but reduced price tickets may be available. Reservations can be made by contacting the chapter office at (315) 471-2821 or bgewanter@nyclu.org.