Work wins ACLU award

photo by Katrina Baldwin

Journalism professor Clem Work watches last May as Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer signs pardons for people convicted under Montana's 1918 Sedition Act.

The 2007 Jeannette Rankin Civil Liberties Award has been awarded to journalism professor Clem Work and law professor Jeff Renz for their work in seeking clemency for 78 Montanans convicted under the state's 1918 sedition law.

Work "made a vital contribution to the history of free speech in America as author of "Darkest Before Dawn: Sedition and Free Speech in the American West," according to the ACLU press release announcing the award.

Work's book, published last year, detailed the state's mood in the run-up to World War I and the passage of the sedition law, telling the stories of men and women who were jailed and fined for speech that should have been protected by the First Amendment.

After the book was published, Renz and Work collaborated with law and journalism students on The Pardon Project, which culminated with a ceremony last spring in which Gov. Brian Schweitzer signed pardons for 78 of those convicted.

Work and Renz received their awards in a Feb. 1 ceremony in Helena.

Back to J-School main page