ABA names 2026 finalists for Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts

March 11, 2026

ABA names 2026 finalists for Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts

WASHINGTON, March 11, 2026 -The American Bar Association today announced the 31 finalists for the 2026 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 20. No more than one Silver Gavel is presented in each category. Honorable Mentions are also recognized. Neither Silver Gavel Awards nor Honorable Mentions are presented in every category every year.

The ABA Gavel Awards Screening Committee of 50 professionals with wide ranges of legal and media expertise, including lawyer-members of the ABA, selected the 31 finalists from 160 entries received in all eligible categories, which include books, documentaries, drama and literature, magazines, websites and multimedia, newspapers, radio and podcasts, 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.

"A very important way the ABA promotes the rule of law and our system of justice not just with lawyers but with the public is through the Silver Gavel Awards," said Ruth Bahe-Jachna, chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Gavel Awards. "Our screeners this year were challenged to make very difficult decisions in determining this year's semi-finalists because we had a truly outstanding group of submissions. It is rewarding to see the depth of commitment and high quality that permeates our media and the arts in producing high-quality works that are accessible to the American public and help them achieve a greater understanding of and appreciation for our legal system."

The ABA has presented these awards each year since 1958. The 18-member ABA Standing Committee on Gavel Awards makes the final award decisions. ABA President Michelle Behnke will present Silver Gavels and Honorable Mentions on Aug. 1 at 3 p.m. CDT at a public program during the ABA Annual Conference in Chicago.

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
"And Housing for All: The Fight to End Homelessness in America"
Globe Pequot Publishing Group
Maria Foscarinis, author

"Dismantling the Death Penalty: Research-Based Answers to the Essential Questions"
Oxford University Press
Mark Costanzo, author

"THE ZORG: A Tale of Greed and Murder that Inspired the Abolition of Slavery"
St. Martins
Siddharth Kara, author

"The Jailhouse Lawyer"
Penguin Random House
Calvin Duncan and Sophie Cull, authors

The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America
Simon and Schuster
John Fabian Witt, author

We The People: A History of the U.S. Constitution
WW Norton
Jill Lepore, author

You Can't Kill a Man Because of the Books He Reads: Angelo Herndon's Fight for Free Speech
WW Norton
Brad Snyder, author

American Scare: Florida's Cold War on Black and Queer Lives
Random House
Robert Fieseler, author

People v. The Court: The Next Revolution in Constitutional Law
Cambridge University Press
David Sloss, author

The Containment: Detroit, the Supreme Court, and the Battle for Racial Justice in the North
Picador
Michelle Adams, author

DOCUMENTARIES
Can't Look Away: The Case Against Social Media
Bloomberg and DCTV
Matthew O'Neill and Perri Peltz, directors

RATIFIED
Independent Lens/PBS
Sabaah Folayan and Deborah R Draper, directors

Supreme Advocacy: What it Takes to Argue at the Supreme Court
Bloomberg Law
Josh Block and Andrew Satter, producers

The Alabama Solution
HBO Original
Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kauffman, directors and producers

DRAMA & LITERATURE
"Blind Injustice" (opera)
Chagrin Arts Center
Scott Davenport Richards, composer
David Cote, librettist

LILLY
Lilly Movie Development Company, LLC.
Rachel Feldman, director

Criminal
New Yorker Films
Robe Imbriano, director
Stew Stewart and Heidi Rodewald, music and lyrics

MAGAZINES
"Denying Innocence"
Injustice Watch
Dan Hinkel, writer

"Erasing the Verdict"
Bloomberg Businessweek
Monte Reel, writer

WEBSITES & MULTIMEDIA
"How the Supreme Court Ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges Legalized Same-Sex Marriage"
Retro Report

"Scorching Cells: How heat threatens lives in America's prisons"
Thompson-Reuters

"Undocumented: Texas' Immigration Impact in a New Trump Era"
KXAN News


NEWSPAPERS
Series on "Maryland District Court Commissioners"
Baltimore Banner
Dylan Segelbaum, reporter

"Zombie Debt"
Bloomberg News
Noah Buhayar, Coulter Jones,
Eric Fan, Jeff Kao and Jeremy Diamond, reporters

"How Paul Newby Made North Carolina a Blueprint for Conservative Courts"
ProPublica
Doug Bock Clark, reporter

RADIO & PODCASTS
"The Bully's Pulpit: Trump v. The First Amendment"
Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University
Christian Farias, host

"Advisory Opinions" (selection from 2025)
"The Dispatch"
Sara Isgur and David French, hosts

"The Last Appeal"
NBC News/Dateline
Lester Holt, host

"UnCommon Law"
The Rise and Fall of Agency Power: From Chevron Deference to Loper Bright
Bloomberg Law
Matt Schwartz, host

TELEVISION
Birthright Citizenship: A Constitutional Test
PBS Newshour

60 Minutes Rule of Law Series
(1) "The Rule of Law", (2) "The Justice Department" and "Erez Reuveni", and (3) "The Prisoners"
CBS News