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2016 Justice for All Honorees

Champion of Justice Award: Dean Strang
Throughout his career, Dean Strang has done important work to protect the presumption of innocence and to raise issues around the need for a fair, effective, and compassionate criminal justice system. A prominent defense attorney, he was the trial lawyer for Steven Avery (featured in the documentary series Making a Murderer). Prior to that, he was Wisconsin’s first Federal Defender and has a long history of integrity and commitment to justice.

Leadership Award: Elizabeth Zitrin
As president of the World Coalition against the Death Penalty, Elizabeth Zitrin is a global leader on issues of criminal justice reform and the death penalty. Since 2004, she has served on NCIP’s advisory board, providing exceptional leadership and helping shape the organization’s development over the years.

Cookie Ridolfi Freedom Award: Maurice Caldwell
Maurice Caldwell was exonerated in 2011 after spending 20 years wrongfully imprisoned. An activist for the innocence movement, Caldwell regularly educates groups about the issue of wrongful conviction. He has been instrumental in persuading California legislators to pass several NCIP-sponsored bills to help protect innocent people from wrongful conviction and make sure that those who have been wrongly convicted receive compensation.

Pro Bono Award: Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP has shown a steadfast commitment to public service and, under the leadership of partners Patrick King and Jason Bussey, the firm has devoted thousands of pro bono hours to NCIP on multiple cases. Simpson worked with NCIP to obtain the exoneration of Jimmie Dick and currently has two teams of lawyers working on behalf of two other NCIP clients.

Featuring a special message from Sister Helen Prejean, Death Penalty Activist and Author, Dead Man Walking