Awards
First Amendment Award
Honorees
2013 Human Rights Defense Center
2012 Mike Hiestand, Student Press Law Center
2011 Burlington (Vt.) Free Press; Mark Prendergast, Stars and Stripes
2010 Herschel Fink, Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP, Detroit;
Carol Rosenberg, The Miami Herald; David Cuillier, the University of Arizona School of Journalism
2009 NewsOK.com, Detroit Free Press and Marjie Lundstrom and Sam Stanton, Sacramento Bee
2008 Toni Locy and Illinois First Amendment Center
2007 John Seigenthaler, Sr.
2006 Tom Curley, The Associated Press
2006 Miguel Morales, Kevin Mimms and The Campus Ledger staff
2005 Judith Miller, The New York Times
2005 Mark Felt
2005 The New York Times
2004 Beryl Howell, Stroz Friedburg LLC
2003 American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
2002 Vanessa Leggett
2001 Bruce Orwin, attorney
2001 Laura Cullen, yearbook adviser, Kentucky State University
2001 The Independent Florida Alligator
1998 Carolyn Carlson Founder, Campus Courts Task Force
1998 Howard and Connie Clery and S. Daniel Carter, Security On Campus, Inc.
1994 Mark Goodman and the Student Press Law Center, Washington, DC
1993 The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas
1992 William Hirschman, reporter, The Wichita Eagle, Wichita, Kansas
1992 Circuit Judge Laurence C. Gram, Jr., Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1992 Daniel Patrinos, operations editor, Milwaukee Sentinel
1990 Peter Sussman, editor, San Francisco Chronicle
1990 Dannie Martin, federal inmate
1990 Justice Lloyd Doggett, Texas Supreme Court
1990 KAET-TV, Phoenix, Arizona
1990 Justice Frank X. Gordon, Jr., Arizona Supreme Court
1990 Dennis Barrie, director, Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center
1990 Traci Bauer, student, Southwest Missouri State University
1989 William Brennan, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
1989 Ed Jones and the Virginia Press Association
1989 Ralph L. (Bill) Axselle
1988 Jon Ducan, litigation lawyer, Chicago Headline Club
1988 Barbara Schleck, broadcast journalist, Chicago Headline Club
1988 Louis E. Ingelhart, professor emeritus, Ball State University
1987 James Patrick Brody, attorney, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1987 Edmund J. Rooney, assistant professor, Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois
1986 The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, California
1986 Dean Hill Rivkin, law professor, University of Tennessee
1986 Tony Mauro, Supreme Court reporter, USA Today
1985 The Clarion-Ledger and the Jackson Daily News, Mississippi
1985 Talbot D'Alembert, dean of the law school, Florida State University
1984 Senator Robert Packwood of Oregon
1984 Alfred H. Knight III, attorney, Nashville, Tennessee
1983 Brown and Bain, legal firm, Phoenix, Ariz.
1983 Frank Snepp, author
1983 Bruce Sanford, SPJ/SDX First Amendment counsel
1982 The Missoulian, Missoula, Mont.
1982 Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont
1982 Jean Otto, chairperson, board of directors, First Amendment Congress, Inc.
1982 Richmond Newspapers, Inc., Richmond, Virginia
1982 Bernie Wynn, Arizona First Amendment Coalition, Phoenix, Ariz.
1981 WCBS-TV, New York City
1980 Allen Neuharth
1980 Retired U.S. Representative John E. Moss
1980 Richard M. Schmidt, Jr., general counsel, ASNE
1980 FOI Center and its director, Paul L. Fisher, University of Missouri
1980 Milton B. Chilcott
1979 Scottsdale, Arizona Daily Progress and publisher Jonathan Marshall
1977 Charleston, West Virginia Gazette
1977 Great Falls, Montana Tribune
1976 Medford, Oregon Mail Tribune
1976 Media of Nebraska Committee
1976 Daniel Schorr
1976 The Fresno Four
1976 Raymond Spangler
1976 William Farr
1975 Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
1975 Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas
Please note: SPJ discontinued this award in 2013. For active competitions honoring similar efforts, please visit the pages for SPJ's Sunshine Award and Eugene S. Pulliam First Amendment Award.
The First Amendment Award honored individuals and organizations for extraordinarily strong efforts to preserve and strengthen the First Amendment.
The SPJ board of directors selected honorees for the First Amendment Award based on recommendations from the national SPJ Freedom of Information Committee.