American Bar Association
1997 Silver Gavel Award Winners: Television

1997 WINNERS | NEWSPAPERS | BOOKS | TELEVISION | RADIO | FILMS & VIDEOS

Mississippi, America
Southern Illinois University Documentary Productions and WSIU-TV
Judith McCray, Writer/Director/Producer
and Michael Starr, Executive Producer
Carbondale, Illinois

Mr. Justice Brennan
Pathmakers, Inc.
Jerry Colbert, Executive Producer
Barr Weissman, Co-Producer
Washington, DC

Mississippi, America SIUC Documentary Productions and WSIU-TV Judith McCray, Writer/Director/Producer Carbondale, IL

Mississippi, America, a 57-minute PBS documentary, tells the story of how black Mississippians, with assistance from volunteer attorneys from across America -- including members of the integrated National Lawyers Guild -- fought against racial discrimination and disenfranchisement during Freedom Summer 1964. Narrated by award-winning actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, the program uses news footage and contemporary, on-camera interviews with many of the lawyers, civil rights activists and "ordinary" Mississippians involved in the struggle for the right to vote. Participants recount the effects of the struggle on their lives, families, and careers. They include civil rights activists and U.S. Representatives John Lewis and George Crockett, and one of the documentary's executive producers and former Freedom Summer legal intern Michael Starr. The program is divided into six segments, tracing the voting rights story from 1964 through present-day issues of legislative apportionment. The segments are: Mississippi Summer 1964; The Attorneys; The Crusaders; The Strategy; The Legacy; and The Unfinished Agenda. Mississippi, America shows how Freedom Summer created a lasting legacy, leading to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and a continuing struggle for black political empowerment, not only in Mississippi, but throughout the country.

Availability: through PBS Video at 1-800-328-7271, home video, $19.98 + $6.00 shipping, or click on link above for more information.

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COMMITTEE COMMENTARY

This is a moving and beautifully produced story of "Freedom Summer" in Mississippi that highlights the role of lawyers in the effort. More than 30 years after the Voting Rights Act was enacted, this documentary serves to remind us of the heroic contributions of lawyers who risked their lives and reputations to promote systemic changes through law. It illuminates a significant, but often forgotten, part of the movement that brought about a change in American voting rights

E X C E R P T   F R O M   M I S S I S S I P P I   A M E R I C A

OSSIE DAVIS and RUBY DEE (NARRATORS): Mississippi -- Summer, 1964. The state became a proving ground for thousands of black and white Americans, who joined together to launch a single strategy -- registering blacks to vote; leaving a legacy that forever changed Mississippi's and America's outlook on every American's claim to this constitutional right.

Their goal was simple, yet their tasks placed each and every one of them at severe personal risk, for the "Magnolia State" was known for its entrenched political, social, and economic systems that relegated its black citizens to second-class status.

FRANK PARKER, Professor, District of Columbia Law School: Mississippi had the most difficult, and the most complicated, and the most discriminatory process in the country. Mississippi had literacy tests, under which people applying to register to vote had to fill out a very complicated voter registration form without assistance.

AARON HENRY, President, Council of Federated Organizations (COFO): You had to have paid two previous poll taxes, you had to be able to interpret any section of the Constitution to the satisfaction of the circuit clerk -- not were you right or wrong, but did you please him...

FRANK PARKER: In addition to the legal impediments, there were also extra-legal impediments. Black people who attempted to register lost their jobs, were intimidated, were harassed -- were in some instances even killed.

BOB MOSES, COFO Project Director: So you had a system of state-run racism.

Mr. Justice Brennan Pathmakers, Inc. Jerry Colbert, Executive Producer and Barr Weissman, Co-Producer Washington, DC

Mr. Justice Brennan, a one-hour program narrated by actor Martin Sheen that premiered on PBS, profiles the life and career of the retired Supreme Court justice. Using rare on-camera interviews with seven Supreme Court justices (including Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia), documentary film footage, and interviews with Brennan himself, the program explores the key role the Supreme Court, and Brennan in particular, played in shaping the legal and social history of the United States during the latter half of the twentieth century. Organized thematically, it addresses such fundamental issues as civil rights, women's rights, affirmative action, abortion rights, and freedom of the press. The program reveals the personal and intellectual dynamics behind such landmark cases as Cooper v. Aaron, New York Times v. Sullivan, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke and Roe v. Wade, and portrays Brennan as an intellectual leader and consensus builder on the Court during his tenure. It also shows how Brennan's family background and life experience shaped his outlook on the Court--how his father, a labor lawyer and director of public safety, was a powerful influence, and how Brennan balanced his duty as a justice with his religious devotion as a Roman Catholic. Mr. Justice Brennan, written by Michael Olmert, is a definitive television treatment of the man who, in Justice Scalia's words, is "probably the most influential justice of the century."

Availability: through PBS Video at 1-800-344-3337; home video, $24.98 + $6.00 shipping.

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COMMITTEE COMMENTARY

Mr. Justice Brennan is a fascinating, in-depth look at a man who is acknowledged by friend and foe alike to be one of the most influential justices of the modern era. Particularly interesting are the interviews with a number of Supreme Court justices, especially an extensive interview with Brennan's intellectual counterpart, Antonin Scalia. Mr. Justice Brennan is a compelling, balanced and illuminating program about this most interesting man.

E X C E R P T S   F R O M   M R.  J U S T I C E   B R E N N A N

WILLIAM BRENNAN: Ours is such a wonderful Constitution, a wonderful Bill of Rights -- those majestic generalities have, at the bottom, the protection of the right of every individual to decency of treatment, all to the end of furthering the great goal of giving dignity to every individual in our society.

RUTH BADER GINSBURG: One of Justice Brennan's major concerns was to take the preamble to the Constitution that says "We the people of the United States," and make that "we" an ever-larger group. His idea was to increase "the people" who would participate in our democracy.

ANTONIN SCALIA: Bill Brennan is probably the most influential justice of the century. I think he was the intellectual leader of a movement that really changed, fundamentally, the Court's approach toward the Constitution. [Laughing] Not in a direction that I happen to agree with...

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WILLIAM BRENNAN: I frankly concede that I approach my responsibility as a justice as a 20th century American, not confined to the framer's vision in 1787. The ultimate question must be, I think what do the words of the Constitution and Bill of Rights mean to us in our time.

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DAVID SOUTER: One can agree with the Brennan opinions, one may disagree with them. But their collective influence is an enormously powerful defining force in the contemporary life of this republic. And I rest my case, that the Brennan mind has met its match in the Brennan heart, and in their perfect match, I think, lies the secret of the greatness of our friend. Quite simply, Justice Brennan is a man who loves.

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