ACLU Honors Civil Liberties Champions At Annual Bill Of Rights Dinner Thursday, December 14, 2000
Thursday, November 9, 2000
LOS ANGELES - On Thursday, December 14, 2000 at 6:00 p.m., the ACLU of Southern California celebrates its annual Bill of Rights Dinner at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The event pays tribute to outstanding individuals who have helped preserve civil liberties and civil rights and celebrates the 209th anniversary of the Bill of Rights. LisaGay Hamilton of The Practice will be the emcee for the evening. The celebration will include a special musical performance by hiphop reggae artist Mad Lion and a guest appearance by actress Sigourney Weaver.
Activist and president of Reprise Records Howie Klein and film maker Gary Ross will be awarded the Bill of Rights Awards and ACLU Foundation Board Member and peace and justice activist Shirley Magidson will be presented with the Eason Monroe Courageous Advocate Award.
As a leading light in the music industry, Howie Klein has a history of picking winners such as The Doors and the Barenaked Ladies - and as a leader in defense of the First Amendment, he has an equally distinguished history of picking fights with the right wing. Klein, a vocal advocate for controversial art and artists, believes that the music industry has always been the most democratic forum of American public expression. Klein has always been honest about his life and beliefs and is acclaimed as one of the first gay, out-of-the-closet-and-proud-of-it executives in the record industry.
Gary Ross demonstrates his profound understanding of the real issues underlying the political world and the justice system through his films. In the film Pleasantville, Ross demonstrated the slippery slope that censorship creates by showing how quickly censoring a jukebox can lead to burning books. The film served as a testimonial to his work through the Library Commission to keep libraries free of censors. Having had a father who was a blacklisted screenwriter during the McCarthy era, it is no surprise that Ross's films prove his ongoing commitment to broaden the marketplace of ideas.
Shirley Magidson has spent decades tirelessly volunteering in campaigns, offices, and on the boards of numerous organizations. She opened her home for events to many controversial figures, such as Black Panther party members and Dr. Martin Luther King, when even bookstores refused them. Her lobbying against nuclear weapons for the Physicians for Social Responsibility propelled that group to become the first to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Magidson has been active against the death penalty and human rights abuses and for extending full civil rights to lesbians and gays. In her 20 years of service to the ACLU Foundation, Magidson has brought to the board an unflagging devotion to criminal justice, human rights, women's rights, and immigrants' rights.
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