Bar Associations
Longtime civil rights advocate Emmet Bondurant will obtain this yr’s ABA Medal
Longtime civil rights advocate Emmet Bondurant “has pursued justice with unwavering integrity” all through his profession, based on the ABA, which on Monday introduced that he would obtain this yr’s ABA Medal. Photograph courtesy of the ABA.
Longtime civil rights advocate Emmet Bondurant “has pursued justice with unwavering integrity” all through his profession, based on the ABA, which on Monday introduced that he would obtain this yr’s ABA Medal.
“The ABA Medal is the very best honor bestowed by the American Bar Affiliation, and we’re proud to honor Emmett Bondurant for his 5 many years of dedication to democratic values, equal safety, voting rights and indigent protection,” mentioned ABA President Mary Smith in a news release.
Bondurant, founding father of the Atlanta-based litigation boutique regulation agency Bondurant, Mixson and Elmore, efficiently argued Wesberry v. Sanders when he was solely 26 years previous. In the 1964 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court docket held for the primary time that congressional districts should include equal populations. This grew to become often called the “one individual, one vote” rule.
Amongst different vital voting rights circumstances, he urged the Supreme Court in Rucho v. Widespread Trigger in 2019 to finish the follow wherein state legislatures intentionally draw voting districts to drawback residents primarily based on their political opinions.
The ABA additionally counseled Bondurant for his dedication to equity and racial justice within the legal justice system in Georgia.
In 2003, he helped cross the Georgia Indigent Defense Act and was the primary chairman of the Georgia Public Defender Requirements Council from 2003 to 2007. He’s now on the advisory board of Gideon’s Promise, which is working towards efficient illustration and equal justice for marginalized communities.
In 1989, Bondurant prevailed earlier than the Georgia Supreme Court docket in Fleming v. Zant. This case established the rule in Georgia that executing defendants who’re mentally impaired constitutes merciless and weird punishment. The Supreme Court docket reached the identical conclusion in Atkins v. Virginia 13 years later.
Bondurant additionally represented lawyer Elizabeth Hishon in Hishon v. King & Spalding, a groundbreaking gender equality case. The Supreme Court docket unanimously ruled in 1984 that companies are topic to Title VII and prohibited from discriminating in opposition to girls when choosing companions.
“I used to be shocked and humbled to have been chosen to obtain the ABA Medal,” mentioned Bondurant, who has been an ABA member for 57 years.
The ABA Medal “acknowledges exceptionally distinguished service by a lawyer or attorneys to the reason for American jurisprudence.” Bondurant will settle for the award on the ABA Annual Meeting, which convenes in Chicago from July 31 by Aug. 6.
Previous recipients embody Supreme Court docket Justices Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Felix Frankfurter, Thurgood Marshall, William J. Brennan Jr., Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer; civil rights chief Fred Gray; ethics chief Lawrence Fox; World Justice Challenge founder and former ABA President William Neukom; social justice activist Bryan Stevenson; Watergate particular prosecutor Leon Jaworski; and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
