Bryan Stevenson is the 2008 recipient of the Katharine and George Alexander Law Prize. The award will be presented to him at a dinner on Saturday, March 8, 2008 at the Hotel Valencia in San Jose.
Bryan Stevenson is being honored for his courage, self-sacrifice and his tireless work on behalf of indigent defendants, death-row prisoners, and juveniles who have been denied fair and just treatment in the legal system.
Stevenson is founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Alabama, where he and his colleagues have helped reduce or overturn death sentences in more than sixty cases. Last year, EJI collected the traumatic stories of 73 children as young as 13 who have been tried as adults and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The EJI is working to correct these harsh sentences.
A graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard School of Government, he joined the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta as an attorney in 1985. From 1989-1995, he represented capital defendants as the executive director of the Alabama Capital Representation Resource Center. He joined the clinical faculty at New York University School of Law in 1998, and his publications on capital punishment and criminal justice are internationally recognized.
A strong voice for reform, he has dedicated his career to alleviating injustice and inequity. We thank him for his leadership and commitment to serving others.
To read more abut Bryan Stevenson, go to: http://www.law.nyu.edu/pubs/magazine/autumn2007/documents/Stevenson_000.pdf
For more information on the Equal Justice Initiative, visit: http://eji.org/eji/
The Katharine and George Alexander Law Prize, an annual award of $50,000 presented by Santa Clara University School of Law, recognizes a member of the legal community who has used his or her skills, knowledge, and abilities to correct injustice in a significant manner, and to promote human and civil rights. Selection criteria include the innovative nature and sustainability of the programs the individual has implemented, the courage and self-sacrifice displayed, the number of people benefited, and any other indications that the recipient is committed in both heart and mind to international human rights and social justice.
