On March 11, the American Bar Association announced that Alabama Justice: The Cases and Faces That Changed a Nation is a finalist for a Silver Gavel Award in the multimedia category. Researched by Steven P. Brown and designed by Backstory Educational Media, the exhibit joins nominees in film, literature, journalism, and other media categories.
Alabama Justice is a traveling exhibit on landmark Supreme Court cases the originated in Alabama cities and towns. The multimedia exhibit explores such cases asTimes v. Richardson. which affirmed freedom of the press to criticize government; Wallace v. Jaffree, which set limits to school prayer in U.S. classrooms, and Powell v. Alabama, one of two cases to come out of the Scottsboro Boys case. A total of eight cases are covered, along with histories of Alabama's three Supreme Court Justices and a primer on the history of the U.S. Constitution.
The Alabama Bicentennial Commission is the chief sponsor of the exhibit. Support also came from the Alabama Department of Archives and History, Auburn University, and the Alabama Humanities Foundation.
Auburn University political science professor Stephen P. Brown researched the content. Backstory was lead designer. Kevin Kunze of QuietPixel contributed digital design. For a close look at how the collaboration worked, click here.
Each year the American Bar Association presents the Silver Gavel awards to recognize work in media and the arts exemplary in helping to foster the American public’s understanding of law and the legal system. Categories include books, drama and literature, newspapers, radio, television, and multimedia.