Loading....
The Frederick Douglass Awards Dinner is SCHR’s flagship gala to recognize and celebrate those who demonstrate exceptional courage and tenacity in defending human rights and equal justice. This gala allows us to illuminate allies who share our vision and commitment to a more just society.
Proceeds from the Frederick Douglass Awards Dinner support SCHR’s work to protect the civil and human rights of people ensnared by the criminal legal system.
HONORING
Ruth E. Friedman
2023 Frederick Douglass Human Rights Award
Ruth Friedman has dedicated her career to fighting for the rights and lives of men and women sentenced to death, working first on behalf of state-sentenced people in Alabama and Georgia and then for those facing execution in the nation’s federal criminal courts. She is the founding director of the Federal Capital Habeas (or “§ 2255”) Project, established by the federal defender program in 2006 to assist those condemned to die in the federal system. Before Ruth arrived, there was no entity tasked with securing representation for the incarcerated people on federal death row or advancing their interests in the courts. Ruth recruited a staff of exceptional lawyers to examine the case of every person on the row and began to develop the law for those facing federal execution.
Ruth started her capital career as a law student at SCHR, known then as the Southern Prisoners’ Defense Committee. Recruited to join the staff upon graduation, Ruth wrote direct appeals, led habeas proceedings, and assisted at trials in Alabama, Georgia, and throughout the South. When Bryan Stevenson left SCHR to start a capital office in Alabama and asked Ruth to join him, she divided her time between the Southern Center and, first, the Alabama Capital Representation Resource Center, and later, the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) in Montgomery as they changed the face of capital representation in that state. For years, Ruth continued to work on behalf of people on the Southern death row alone and in conjunction with the Southern Center’s Steve Bright, Clive Stafford Smith, and Palmer Singleton.
Nigel Poor & Earlonne Woods, Ear Hustle
2023 Frederick Douglass Equal Justice Award
Nigel Poor is a visual artist whose work explores the various ways people make a mark and leave behind evidence of their existence. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and can be found in various museum collections including the SFMOMA, the M.H. deYoung Museum, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. She is also a professor of photography at California State University, Sacramento. In 2011, Nigel got involved with San Quentin State Prison as a volunteer teacher for Mount Tamalpais College (formerly the Prison University Project). She is also the co-author of This Is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life (Crown Publishing).
Earlonne Woods was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. In 1997, he was sentenced to 31-years-to-life in prison. While incarcerated, he received his GED, attended Coastline Community College and completed many vocational trade programs. He also founded CHOOSE1, which aims to repeal the California Three Strikes Law, the statute under which he was sentenced. In November 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown commuted Earlonne’s sentence after 21 years of incarceration. Upon his release, Earlonne was hired by PRX as a full-time producer for Ear Hustle, and he continues to work with Nigel, contributing stories about re-entry. He is also the co-author of This Is Ear Hustle: Unflinching Stories of Everyday Prison Life (Crown Publishing).
IN REMEMBRANCE
Charles J. Ogletree, Jr. (1952-2023)
Affectionately known as “Tree,” Charles Ogletree was a lot of things, including an exceptional legal scholar, a fierce and fearless advocate, a mentor to some of this country’s greatest justice champions, and a shield against racial injustice in all its many forms. Most importantly for all of us at SCHR, he was our friend.
After leaving his trailblazing career as a public defender at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, Charles Ogletree joined Harvard Law’s faculty. He could have left criminal defense and the racial justice approach he infused into it in his past. But he didn’t. Rather, he joined his former PDS colleague, former SCHR President Stephen B. Bright, in appearing before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of a Black man prosecuted by a district attorney who struck 90% of prospective Black jurors. Charles Ogletree’s extraordinary advocacy led to the reversal of the death sentence in Ford v. Georgia. But his work in the South did not end there. He strongly believed in SCHR and was one of our most dedicated supporters. Having served as Chair of SCHR’s board of directors for a decade, he poured countless hours into being a loud cheerleader for SCHR’s mission, our team, and the people we serve.
For questions related to sponsorship opportunities, ads, and registration, please contact
Ben Minor at (404) 688-1202 or bminor@schr.org.
You will receive a confirmation to the provided e-mail address shortly. Please help us spread the word about the Frederick Douglass Awards Dinner by sharing the event page with your friends, family, and colleagues using the links below!
For questions related to sponsorship opportunities, ads, and registration, please contact
Ben Minor at (404) 688-1202 or bminor@schr.org.