HON. NANCY GERTNER - RECIPIENT OF AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION'S 2008 THURGOOD MARSHALL AWARD

On August 9th, 2008, United States District Judge Nancy Gertner, Co-Chair of NAWJ's Federal Courts Committee, will receive the ABA's distinguished Thurgood Marshall Award. Only the second woman to receive this coveted award (the first was Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg), Judge Gertner's selection was based on her lifelong extraordinary career of courageous and tireless efforts, both as an attorney and federal judge, to guarantee the Constitutional rights of women, racial minorities, criminal defendants, and other vulnerable populations in our society.

Established by the American Bar Association and the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities in 1992, the Thurgood Marshall Award honors U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who epitomized individual commitment, in word and action, to the cause of civil rights in this country. The award recognizes similar substantial and long-term contributions by other members of the legal profession to the advancement of civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights in the United States.