CHICAGO — Lowell E. Sachnoff, of Counsel to Reed Smith, is the 2011 recipient of the Arthur Goldberg Social Justice Award, presented by the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs.
“Lowell Sachnoff is a tireless advocate for the civil rights of the poor, the disenfranchised and society’s most vulnerable,” said Jane Ramsey, executive director of JCUA.
Sachnoff is the recipient of numerous awards for his commitment to civil rights. He has worked closely with the American Civil Liberties Union, the Lawyers’ Alliance for World Security, and the Business and Professional People for the Public Interest. Sachnoff continues to work with the Center for Constitutional Rights to represent prisoners detained at Guantanamo Bay.
The evening includes a tribute to the late Jerold S. Solovy, whose leadership and vision were important to the success of JCUA’s Jurisprudence Dinners. At the time of Solovy’s death in January, he was a JCUA board member and chairman emeritus at Jenner & Block.
Event chairs are the Hon. Abner Mikva, federal judge (ret.); and David F. Graham, partner, Sidley Austin LLP. Co-chairs include Robert L. Clifford, Jeffrey D. Colman, Robert L. Graham, Sidney N. (Skip) Herman, Michael LoVallo, Lee I. Miller, Judson H. Miner, Thomas P. Sullivan and William A. Von Hoene Jr.
About the Arthur Goldberg Social Justice Award
A statesman and jurist who served as U.S. Secretary of Labor, Supreme Court Justice and Ambassador to the United Nations, Arthur Goldberg exemplified the concept of social justice. The youngest of eight children born to an abjectly poor family on Chicago’s West Side, Goldberg rose to prominence as counsel to labor unions and crafted the trade-union merger that created the AFL-CIO. Inspired by Clarence Darrow’s successful argument against the death penalty in the Leopold and Loeb murder case, he became a strong opponent of capital punishment, in part because he saw how social inequalities led to its unequal application.
About JCUA (http://www.jcua.org)
The mission of the Chicago-based Jewish Council on Urban Affairs is to combat poverty, racism and anti-Semitism in partnership with diverse communities. Guided by prophetic Jewish principles, JCUA pursues social and economic justice for our most vulnerable neighborhoods by promoting a vision of empowering communities from within. Since 1964, JCUA has assisted groups in low-income and minority communities, built coalitions with diverse groups, advocated on issues of poverty and racism and mobilized a Jewish constituency to create a more just city and nation.
[...] Using a Yiddish word that refers to the kind of pride a parent feels when his or her child gets his law degree, Mikva said Arthur is kvelling tonight. He’s kvelling because Lowell Sachnoff is his kind of lawyer and JCUA is his kind of organization.” Read about Sachnoff’s accomplishments and social justice history [...]