Leading Civil Rights and First Amendment Lawyer Paul M. Smith to Receive 2010 Thurgood Marshall Award

Argued landmark gay rights case Lawrence v. Texas before Supreme Court

The American Bar Association Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities named civil liberties and human rights attorney Paul M. Smith as the recipient of this year’s Thurgood Marshall Award, which will be presented Aug. 7 at the ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

A partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Jenner & Block, Smith is one of the country’s leading lawyers in the areas of First Amendment litigation and appellate advocacy.  He has presented oral argument in more than a dozen Supreme Court cases, including his groundbreaking advocacy in Lawrence v. Texas, the landmark gay rights case that is often compared in significance to the Brown v. Board of Education case, which was argued and won by Thurgood Marshall.

Smith has not only led the way in advancing LGBT civil rights, but he has also been a leading advocate in addressing voting rights issues, including arguing three times before the U.S. Supreme Court in voting rights matters since 2004.  His most recent argument was in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, a 2008 case challenging an Indiana voter ID law, which has been called the most significant election law case to reach the Court since Bush v. Gore in 2000.  Smith has also been a leader in advancing freedom of speech, especially with regard to the application of the First Amendment to the Internet and video games.

The Thurgood Marshall Award recognizes substantial, long-term contributions to the advancement of civil rights, civil liberties and human rights in the United States.  The section established the award in 1992, conferring the inaugural award upon U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.  Since that time, recipients have included:

1993    Judge Frank M. Johnson
1994    Oliver W. Hill
1995    Ralph S. Abascal
1996    Jack Greenberg
1997    Judge Damon J. Keith
1998    Stephen B. Bright
1999    Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
2000    Judge Revius Q. Ortique, Jr.
2001    Judge William Wayne Justice
2002    Judge Don Edwards
2003    Dale Minami
2004    Fred D. Gray
2005    Judge Abner J. Mikva
2006    Julius Chambers
2007    Judge Matthew J. Perry, Jr.
2008    Judge Nancy Gertner
2009    Former Attorney General Janet Reno

The keynote speaker for the August event will be announced in March.