ACLU/SC Honors Dixie Chicks, 'Crash' Oscar Winner, Top Music Executive, and Courageous Navy Lawyer
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
LOS ANGELES – The ACLU of Southern California honored defenders of freedom in music, movies and the military at its annual Bill of Rights Awards on Monday, Dec. 11, at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, and Emily Robison of the Grammy-winning, platinum-selling Dixie Chicks, Atlantic Records Group senior vice president Kevin Weaver, and Paul Haggis, who won Academy Awards this year for producing and writing “Crash,” took home awards. Actor Penélope Cruz (“Volver”) accepted the award for Haggis, who is working on a new film. Maines accepted the award for the Dixie Chicks.
A special award for courageous advocacy went to Navy Lt. Cmdr. Charles D. Swift, who this year argued the historic Supreme Court case, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, that rejected the Bush administration’s attempt to hold terror suspects to unequal standards of justice.
Bill Maher, host of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” and Virgin Records U.S. Chairman and CEO Jason Flom also presented awards. Actor and Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Jewel performed, and actor Lisa Gay Hamilton (“The Practice”) emceed.
“The ACLU supports the rights of individuals to take strong stands in defense of liberty,” said ACLU/SC Executive Director Ramona Ripston. “Our honorees understand that carelessly discarding our rights will not make us safer.”
The Dixie Chicks faced protests for Maines’ public criticism of President George W. Bush on the eve of the Iraq war. A new documentary explores the episode and the Dixie Chicks’ unbowed response. Their album “Taking the Long Way” has sold more than 1 million copies since its release in May, and its No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 makes the Dixie Chicks the first female group in chart history to have three No. 1 albums. Last week the group was nominated for five Grammy Awards.
"It never in a million years would have crossed my mind that I couldn't question our government," said Maines.
Lt. Cmdr. Swift faced off with the Bush administration over detainees’ rights to a fair trial. Two weeks after winning in front of the Supreme Court in June, he learned he was passed over for promotion, and he will leave the Navy next year after 20 years of distinguished service. “Commander Swift did as much as any single individual to expose the awful wrongs of Guantánamo Bay and Mr. Bush's lawless military commissions,” the New York Times editorial page wrote Oct. 11. “It was a valuable public service and a brave act of conscience, and his treatment is deeply troubling.”
Other top people in entertainment attended, including Lionsgate Films CEO Jon Feltheimer, music producer Rick Rubin (“Taking the Long Way”), music manager and past Bill of Rights Award winner Simon Renshaw, actor James Whitmore (“The Shawshank Redemption”), and music manager Irving Azoff.
National ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero also attended and awarded the Eason Monroe Courageous Advocate Award to Lt. Cmdr. Swift.
The Bill of Rights Dinner recognizes exceptional people who have helped preserve civil liberties and civil rights. Past honorees have included Dustin Hoffman, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Martin Scorsese. The Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution protecting freedom of speech, religion, assembly, and other core ACLU values, were signed Dec. 15, 1791.
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