The American Bar Association on Wednesday announced the 24 finalists for the 2025 Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts, which recognize outstanding work that fosters the American public’s understanding of law and the legal system. This is the ABA’s highest honor in recognition of this purpose.
The winners will be announced on May 14. No more than one Silver Gavel is presented in each category. Honorable Mentions are also recognized, but awards are not presented in every category every year.
The ABA Gavel Awards Screening Committee of 53 professionals with wide ranges of legal and media expertise, including lawyer-members of the ABA, selected the 24 finalists from 122 entries received in all eligible categories, which include books, commentaries, documentaries, drama and literature, magazines, multimedia, newspapers, radio and television.
Selection criteria include how the entry addresses the Silver Gavel Awards’ purpose and objectives; educational value of legal information; impact on, or outreach to, the public; thoroughness and accuracy in presentation of issues; creativity and originality in approach to subject matter and effectiveness of presentation; and demonstrated technical skill in the entry’s production.
“We are excited to announce the 2025 finalists and extend our congratulations to the authors and creators of these exceptional works,” said Ruth Bahe-Jachna, chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Gavel Awards. “The submissions this year were outstanding, and we want to thank all of the volunteers of the Gavel Awards Screening Committee who had the formidable task of reviewing all of the submissions and making difficult decisions.”
The ABA has presented these awards each year since 1958. The 16-member ABA Standing Committee on Gavel Awards makes the final award decisions. ABA President William Bay will present Silver Gavels and Honorable Mentions on August 9 at 3 p.m. at the ABA Annual Meeting at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel.
To learn more about the Silver Gavel Awards, go to Silver Gavel (americanbar.org).
The following is a complete list of finalists with links to their work:
—BOOKS
• “Bringing Ben Home: A Murder, a Conviction, and the Fight to Redeem American Justice”
Penguin Random House, Riverhead Books
Barbara Bradley Hagerty, author
• “By the Fire We Carry”
HarperCollins Publishers
Rebecca Nagle, author
• “Dear Sister: A Memoir of Secrets, Survival, and Unbreakable Bonds”
Grand Central Publishing
Michelle Horton, author
• “The Fall of Roe”
Flatiron Books
Elizabeth Dias, author
• “The Most Powerful Court in the World”
Oxford University Press
Stuart Banner, author
• “The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It”
W.W. Norton and Company
Corey Brettschneider, author
—COMMENTARY
• “Ending Pay to Stay”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Tony Messenger, metro columnist
Alan Achkar, executive editor
• “Strict Scrutiny: SCOTUS Hands Trump Presidential Immunity”
Crooked Media
Leah Litman, Melissa Murray, Kate Shaw, co-hosts
Melody Rowell, producer
Michael Goldsmith, associate producer
Madeleine Haeringer, executive vice president of news and programming
Matt DeGroot, vice president of production
—DOCUMENTARIES
• “Nature of the Crime”
Break Thru Films, HBO Documentary Films
Ricki Stern and Jesse Sweet, writers/producers/directors
Seth Keal, senior producer
Joe Caterini and Logan Snyder, executive producers
David Mehlman, editor
Jerry Risius, Michelle McCabe, Jonathan Nastasi and Seth Keal, directors of photography
Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller and Tina Nguyen, executive producers, HBO Documentary Films
• “The First Amendment: New York Times v Sullivan”
Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics - Annenberg Public Policy Center, The Documentary Group
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director, Annenberg Public Policy Center
Tom Yellen, president, executive producer, The Documentary Group
Robe Imbriano, co-director/writer, narrator, The Documentary Group
Gregory Blanc, co-director/co-producer, The Documentary Group
Marc Tidalgo, co-producer/editor, The Documentary Group
Thomas Curtis, animator, The Documentary Group
• “The Sing Sing Chronicles”
NBC News Studios, MSNBC Films, Trilogy Films
Kimberly Ferdinando, showrunner/executive producer, NBC News Studio
Liz Cole, executive producer, NBC News Studio
Dan Slepian, reporter, NBC News Studio
Rashida Jones, Rebecca Kutler, Amanda Spain, executive producers, MSNBC Films
Dawn Porter, director/executive producer, Trilogy Films
Laren Capps, Sadie Bass, producers
Rosie Walunas, editor
Bryant Fisher, Sean Gallagher, cinematographers
Nathan Halpern, music
• “Zurawski v Texas”
Out of Nowhere
Maisie Crow, director/producer/director of photography
Abbie Perrault, director/producer
Amy Flanagan, Siobhan Sinnerton, Blye Pagon Faust, Cori Shepherd, producers
Austin Reedy, editor
Osei Essed, original music
—MAGAZINES
• “Courting Injustice”
Bloomberg Businessweek
Monte Reel, Sinduja Rangarajan, Michael Riley, reporters
Josh Hersh, producer
• “The Eviction Cure”
Texas Monthly
J.K. Nickell, writer
Jeff Salamon, editor
—MULTIMEDIA
• “Brown v. Board of Education Revisited”
Northwestern University Knight Lab; Spooler; Respeecher; Idib Group; Neubottle
Jerry Goldman, professor, Northwestern University
Joe Germuska, executive director, Northwestern University Knight Lab
Andy Bowers, chief creative officer, Spooler
Kerry Donahue, executive producer, Spooler
Serhii Dvornyk, synthetic speech artist, Respeecher
Francesco Stagno d’Alcontres, ceo & ux lead designer, Idib Group
Pat Ward, owner, Neubottle
Dion Graham, voice actor
Karen Grisby Bates, narrator
Jeff Parsons, consultant
—NEWSPAPERS
• “Denied: Alabama's Broken Parole System”
AL.com
Ivana Hrynkiw, reporter
Challen Stephens and Ashley Remkus, editors
Tamika Moore, photographer
Hannah Denham and Ramsey Archibald, data visualization
• “Meth: The Prison Pipeline”
The Dallas Morning News
Kevin Krause, reporter
Jose Luis Adriano, data reporter
• “Prison to Plate: Profiting Off America's Captive Workforce”
Associated Press
Robin McDowell and Margie Mason, investigative reporters
Kristin Gazlay, editor
• “The Gutting of the Eighth Amendment”
Business Insider
Nicole Einbinder, correspondent
Hannah Beckler, senior editor
Sophie Kleeman, senior editor, investigations
Esther Kaplan, investigations editor
Narimes Parakul, researcher
Rosemarie Ho, research editor
Randy Yeip, data visualization director
Isabel Fernandez-Pujol, photo editor
Kim Nguyen, data and graphics fellow
Dan DeLorenzo, freelance data visualization
• “Untested: For thousands of victims whose rape kits were ignored, justice remains elusive”
USA Today
Tricia L. Nadolny, Nick Penzenstadler, Jayme Fraser, Gina Barton, Dian Zhang, Savannah Kuchar, Lee Rood, reporters
Amy Pyle, Doug Caruso, Josh Susong, editors
Ariana Torrey, illustrator
Andrea Brunty, designer
Ramon Padilla, Javier Zarracina, Carlie Procell, graphic designers
Matthew Dae Smith, Abigail Dollins, Bryan Terry, Max Correa, Romain Blanquart, Aaron Martinez, Eva Marie Uzcategui, photographers
Jasper Colt, photographer/videographer
Lamar Salter. videographer
Nikol Mudrova, Sydney Bergan, Alan Nguyen, Ashley Lewis, Jessica Hilo, Tim Gardner, audience editors
—RADIO
• “AI and the Law, Explained: UnCommon Law's 6-Episode Podcast Series”
Bloomberg Industry Group
Matthew Schwartz, host
• “The (ir)Rational Alaskans from Cited Podcast”
Cited Media
Gordon Katic, host/lead producer/editor
Katy Davis, assistant producer
Sandra Bartlett, editor
Jay Cockburn, technical producer/mixer
Michael Pettit, research consulting and support
—TELEVISION
• “Citizen Nation”
Retro Report, PBS
For PBS:
Margaret Ebrahim, executive in charge
Elizabeth O’Neil, associate director, content & strategy
Eboni Lemon, assistant director, programming
For Retro Report:
Christopher Buck, Kyra Darnton, executive producers
Bret Sigler, series creator
Singeli Agnew, director
Veronika Adaskova, supervising producer
Benji Kast, Jane Jo, Anne Checler, Elana Meyers, editors
Emily Orr, Wesley Harris, field producers
Tom Brown, Victor Couto, line producers
Cole Cahill, associate producer
Cullen Golden, post production supervisor
Sylvia Cahill, Rebecca Losick, archival producers
Mimi Pfahler, archival associate producer
Ethan Weihl, archival researcher
Josh Markowitz, assistant editor
Robin Hilton, music composer
Casey Macker, graphics
Derek Knowles, Leslye Davis, Mariam Dwedar, Joel Van Haren, Chris Olson, directors of photography
Alex Pritz, Mike Shum, Ora DeKornfeld, Jason Blalock, Alex Witkowicz, Drew Bennett, Juan Castañeda, Andre Lambertson, Art Freeman, cinematography
• “High Stakes at the Supreme Court”
ABC News
Devin Dwyer, correspondent
Sarah Herndon, Robert Zepeda, Patty See, producers
Michael Mendelsohn, Jon Schlosberg, senior producers
Bobby Gehlen, producer/photographer
Paul Strzegowski, editor
Steve Senn, Paul Ramsey, camera
Steve Widner, John Gurney, audio
The winners will be announced on May 14. No more than one Silver Gavel is presented in each category. Honorable Mentions are also recognized, but awards are not presented in every category every year.
The ABA Gavel Awards Screening Committee of 53 professionals with wide ranges of legal and media expertise, including lawyer-members of the ABA, selected the 24 finalists from 122 entries received in all eligible categories, which include books, commentaries, documentaries, drama and literature, magazines, multimedia, newspapers, radio and television.
Selection criteria include how the entry addresses the Silver Gavel Awards’ purpose and objectives; educational value of legal information; impact on, or outreach to, the public; thoroughness and accuracy in presentation of issues; creativity and originality in approach to subject matter and effectiveness of presentation; and demonstrated technical skill in the entry’s production.
“We are excited to announce the 2025 finalists and extend our congratulations to the authors and creators of these exceptional works,” said Ruth Bahe-Jachna, chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Gavel Awards. “The submissions this year were outstanding, and we want to thank all of the volunteers of the Gavel Awards Screening Committee who had the formidable task of reviewing all of the submissions and making difficult decisions.”
The ABA has presented these awards each year since 1958. The 16-member ABA Standing Committee on Gavel Awards makes the final award decisions. ABA President William Bay will present Silver Gavels and Honorable Mentions on August 9 at 3 p.m. at the ABA Annual Meeting at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel.
To learn more about the Silver Gavel Awards, go to Silver Gavel (americanbar.org).
The following is a complete list of finalists with links to their work:
—BOOKS
• “Bringing Ben Home: A Murder, a Conviction, and the Fight to Redeem American Justice”
Penguin Random House, Riverhead Books
Barbara Bradley Hagerty, author
• “By the Fire We Carry”
HarperCollins Publishers
Rebecca Nagle, author
• “Dear Sister: A Memoir of Secrets, Survival, and Unbreakable Bonds”
Grand Central Publishing
Michelle Horton, author
• “The Fall of Roe”
Flatiron Books
Elizabeth Dias, author
• “The Most Powerful Court in the World”
Oxford University Press
Stuart Banner, author
• “The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It”
W.W. Norton and Company
Corey Brettschneider, author
—COMMENTARY
• “Ending Pay to Stay”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Tony Messenger, metro columnist
Alan Achkar, executive editor
• “Strict Scrutiny: SCOTUS Hands Trump Presidential Immunity”
Crooked Media
Leah Litman, Melissa Murray, Kate Shaw, co-hosts
Melody Rowell, producer
Michael Goldsmith, associate producer
Madeleine Haeringer, executive vice president of news and programming
Matt DeGroot, vice president of production
—DOCUMENTARIES
• “Nature of the Crime”
Break Thru Films, HBO Documentary Films
Ricki Stern and Jesse Sweet, writers/producers/directors
Seth Keal, senior producer
Joe Caterini and Logan Snyder, executive producers
David Mehlman, editor
Jerry Risius, Michelle McCabe, Jonathan Nastasi and Seth Keal, directors of photography
Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller and Tina Nguyen, executive producers, HBO Documentary Films
• “The First Amendment: New York Times v Sullivan”
Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics - Annenberg Public Policy Center, The Documentary Group
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director, Annenberg Public Policy Center
Tom Yellen, president, executive producer, The Documentary Group
Robe Imbriano, co-director/writer, narrator, The Documentary Group
Gregory Blanc, co-director/co-producer, The Documentary Group
Marc Tidalgo, co-producer/editor, The Documentary Group
Thomas Curtis, animator, The Documentary Group
• “The Sing Sing Chronicles”
NBC News Studios, MSNBC Films, Trilogy Films
Kimberly Ferdinando, showrunner/executive producer, NBC News Studio
Liz Cole, executive producer, NBC News Studio
Dan Slepian, reporter, NBC News Studio
Rashida Jones, Rebecca Kutler, Amanda Spain, executive producers, MSNBC Films
Dawn Porter, director/executive producer, Trilogy Films
Laren Capps, Sadie Bass, producers
Rosie Walunas, editor
Bryant Fisher, Sean Gallagher, cinematographers
Nathan Halpern, music
• “Zurawski v Texas”
Out of Nowhere
Maisie Crow, director/producer/director of photography
Abbie Perrault, director/producer
Amy Flanagan, Siobhan Sinnerton, Blye Pagon Faust, Cori Shepherd, producers
Austin Reedy, editor
Osei Essed, original music
—MAGAZINES
• “Courting Injustice”
Bloomberg Businessweek
Monte Reel, Sinduja Rangarajan, Michael Riley, reporters
Josh Hersh, producer
• “The Eviction Cure”
Texas Monthly
J.K. Nickell, writer
Jeff Salamon, editor
—MULTIMEDIA
• “Brown v. Board of Education Revisited”
Northwestern University Knight Lab; Spooler; Respeecher; Idib Group; Neubottle
Jerry Goldman, professor, Northwestern University
Joe Germuska, executive director, Northwestern University Knight Lab
Andy Bowers, chief creative officer, Spooler
Kerry Donahue, executive producer, Spooler
Serhii Dvornyk, synthetic speech artist, Respeecher
Francesco Stagno d’Alcontres, ceo & ux lead designer, Idib Group
Pat Ward, owner, Neubottle
Dion Graham, voice actor
Karen Grisby Bates, narrator
Jeff Parsons, consultant
—NEWSPAPERS
• “Denied: Alabama's Broken Parole System”
AL.com
Ivana Hrynkiw, reporter
Challen Stephens and Ashley Remkus, editors
Tamika Moore, photographer
Hannah Denham and Ramsey Archibald, data visualization
• “Meth: The Prison Pipeline”
The Dallas Morning News
Kevin Krause, reporter
Jose Luis Adriano, data reporter
• “Prison to Plate: Profiting Off America's Captive Workforce”
Associated Press
Robin McDowell and Margie Mason, investigative reporters
Kristin Gazlay, editor
• “The Gutting of the Eighth Amendment”
Business Insider
Nicole Einbinder, correspondent
Hannah Beckler, senior editor
Sophie Kleeman, senior editor, investigations
Esther Kaplan, investigations editor
Narimes Parakul, researcher
Rosemarie Ho, research editor
Randy Yeip, data visualization director
Isabel Fernandez-Pujol, photo editor
Kim Nguyen, data and graphics fellow
Dan DeLorenzo, freelance data visualization
• “Untested: For thousands of victims whose rape kits were ignored, justice remains elusive”
USA Today
Tricia L. Nadolny, Nick Penzenstadler, Jayme Fraser, Gina Barton, Dian Zhang, Savannah Kuchar, Lee Rood, reporters
Amy Pyle, Doug Caruso, Josh Susong, editors
Ariana Torrey, illustrator
Andrea Brunty, designer
Ramon Padilla, Javier Zarracina, Carlie Procell, graphic designers
Matthew Dae Smith, Abigail Dollins, Bryan Terry, Max Correa, Romain Blanquart, Aaron Martinez, Eva Marie Uzcategui, photographers
Jasper Colt, photographer/videographer
Lamar Salter. videographer
Nikol Mudrova, Sydney Bergan, Alan Nguyen, Ashley Lewis, Jessica Hilo, Tim Gardner, audience editors
—RADIO
• “AI and the Law, Explained: UnCommon Law's 6-Episode Podcast Series”
Bloomberg Industry Group
Matthew Schwartz, host
• “The (ir)Rational Alaskans from Cited Podcast”
Cited Media
Gordon Katic, host/lead producer/editor
Katy Davis, assistant producer
Sandra Bartlett, editor
Jay Cockburn, technical producer/mixer
Michael Pettit, research consulting and support
—TELEVISION
• “Citizen Nation”
Retro Report, PBS
For PBS:
Margaret Ebrahim, executive in charge
Elizabeth O’Neil, associate director, content & strategy
Eboni Lemon, assistant director, programming
For Retro Report:
Christopher Buck, Kyra Darnton, executive producers
Bret Sigler, series creator
Singeli Agnew, director
Veronika Adaskova, supervising producer
Benji Kast, Jane Jo, Anne Checler, Elana Meyers, editors
Emily Orr, Wesley Harris, field producers
Tom Brown, Victor Couto, line producers
Cole Cahill, associate producer
Cullen Golden, post production supervisor
Sylvia Cahill, Rebecca Losick, archival producers
Mimi Pfahler, archival associate producer
Ethan Weihl, archival researcher
Josh Markowitz, assistant editor
Robin Hilton, music composer
Casey Macker, graphics
Derek Knowles, Leslye Davis, Mariam Dwedar, Joel Van Haren, Chris Olson, directors of photography
Alex Pritz, Mike Shum, Ora DeKornfeld, Jason Blalock, Alex Witkowicz, Drew Bennett, Juan Castañeda, Andre Lambertson, Art Freeman, cinematography
• “High Stakes at the Supreme Court”
ABC News
Devin Dwyer, correspondent
Sarah Herndon, Robert Zepeda, Patty See, producers
Michael Mendelsohn, Jon Schlosberg, senior producers
Bobby Gehlen, producer/photographer
Paul Strzegowski, editor
Steve Senn, Paul Ramsey, camera
Steve Widner, John Gurney, audio
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