Each Set in Motion Dramatic Changes to Help Victims of Discrimination Gain
Access to Equal Justice
NEW YORK, June 10, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Peter and Patricia Gruber
Foundation (www.gruberprizes.org) today announces that, on the tenth
anniversary of the Gruber Prize Program, it will award its 2009 Justice Prize
to an individual and an organization for their tireless advocacy of human
rights for individuals belonging to oppressed groups that historically have not
had an effective voice in, or access to, the justice system:
* Bryan Stevenson - executive director of Equal Justice Initiative
(EJI; http://eji.org/eji/), located in Montgomery, Alabama, which
represents indigent defendants, death row inmates, and juveniles
who have been denied fair and just treatment in the legal system.
With his staff, Stevenson has largely been responsible for reversals
and reduced sentences in more than 75 death penalty cases. He has
provided an effective training and consulting resource for counsel
representing death row inmates and is spearheading litigation in
19 states to get a fair review of sentencing and parole-eligible
re-sentencing. Stevenson has been consistently recognized by the
National Law Journal as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in
America.
* European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) - an international public
interest law organization that combats anti-Romani racism and
human rights abuse of Roma in Europe. ERRC (http://www.errc.org/)
has set in motion more than 500 court cases in 15 countries to
bring to justice state and non-state actors who have discriminated
against Romani individuals in education, housing, employment,
healthcare and other areas, or have committed violence against
them. It has secured over 2 million euro in compensation for Romani
individuals for the abuse they suffered and the subsequent failure
of their respective governments to ensure justice.
The Gruber Justice Prize will be awarded in a ceremony this fall celebrating
the achievements of the recipients, who will share the $500,000 prize.
"The work of Bryan Stevenson and that of the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC)
demonstrates what can be accomplished against tremendous odds when highly
principled, knowledgeable, and committed people appeal for justice," said Judge
Bernice Donald, U.S. District Court, Western District of Tennessee. "In
securing access to justice for those most in need of protection from
discrimination -- including, at times, discrimination within the legal system
itself -- Bryan Stevenson and ERRC assist oppressed minorities in developing
the voice and arguments they need to demand equal justice under law. Their work
is a model for human rights advocacy and presents a compelling case for the
necessity of focusing on and developing public interest law in legal education
and practice."
The Gruber Foundation Justice Prize is presented to individuals or
organizations for contributions that have advanced the cause of justice as
delivered through the legal system. The award is intended to acknowledge
individual efforts, as well as to encourage further advancements in the field
and progress toward bringing about a fundamentally just world.
The Gruber International Prize Program honors contemporary individuals in the
fields of Genetics, Neuroscience, Justice, Women's Rights and Cosmology, whose
groundbreaking work provides new models that inspire and enable fundamental
shifts in knowledge and culture. The Selection Advisory Boards choose
individuals whose contributions in their respective fields advance our
knowledge, potentially have a profound impact on our lives, and, in the case of
the Justice and Women's Rights Prizes, demonstrate courage and commitment in
the face of significant obstacles.
The tenth anniversary of the Prize Program will be celebrated on July 1, 2009,
in an event at Rockefeller University in New York City. The event will include
a symposium entitled "DNA, the Brain, and Society," featuring distinguished
scientists David Botstein, Linda Buck, Fred Gage, and Solomon Snyder. To attend
the event or to obtain additional information, visit
http://www.gruberprizes.org/GruberPrizes/TenthAnniversary.php.
The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation honors and encourages educational
excellence, social justice and scientific achievements that better the human
condition. For more information about Foundation guidelines and priorities, and
the 2009 Justice Prize recipients, visit www.gruberprizes.org.
CONTACT: Robin Leedy & Associates
For The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation
Media Contact:
Alyson O'Mahoney
(914) 241-0086, ext. 13
aomahoney@robinleedyassociates.com
www.gruberprizes.org/Press.php
Attorney and Advocacy Group to Share $500K Gruber Foundation International Justice Prize
| Source: The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation