Media Contact: Kathryn Hamoudah 404/688-1202 or [email protected] 

Tuesday, October 21, 2025, 6:00pm Reception, 7:00pm Dinner and Remarks 
Salamander DC, 1330 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20024

WASHINGTON, DC—On Tuesday, October 21, the Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR), one of the nation’s leading criminal legal reform nonprofits and advocacy law firms, will host its 29^th Annual Frederick Douglass Awards Dinner in Washington, DC. This year’s award recipients include:

• Kristen Clarke for dedicating her career to defending civil rights and ensuring equal justice under law. As Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the US DOJ, Kristen Clarke led groundbreaking efforts to protect voting rights, combat hate crimes, and uphold the dignity of marginalized communities. Her impact in Georgia is undeniable. During her tenure, the DOJ investigated the horrific and inhumane conditions in Atlanta’s Fulton County Jail,  releasing a scathing report identifying the numerous violations of incarcerated people’s constitutional rights.
• Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., one of the nation’s most accomplished and respected advocates before the U.S. Supreme Court. As Solicitor General of the United States, Donald Verrilli argued more than 50 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including landmark cases that shaped the future of civil rights, voting rights, and equality under law. His long-time commitment to civil and human rights has been exemplified by his dedication to pro bono representation in death penalty cases and his work on Wiggins v. Smith, a case establishing what an effective defense looks like for people facing capital punishment. 

The 2025 honorees join a prestigious group of organizations and individuals whom SCHR has previously honored for their leadership in the fight for human and constitutional rights in the criminal legal system. SCHR’s past honorees include Bryan Stevenson, the late Congressman John Lewis, Curtis Flowers’ legal team, and the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia.

“For close to 50 years, the Southern Center for Human Rights has worked to address some of the most pressing problems faced by people entangled in the justice system in the Deep South. I am proud to stand with and celebrate SCHR’s extraordinary accomplishments in the fight to ensure the dignity and humanity of all people,” said Kristen Clarke, former Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights.

“To receive the Frederick Douglass Award from the Southern Center for Human Rights means a great deal to me. My work with the Southern Center and its lawyers over four decades has taught me so much about what a true commitment to the rule of law and the fight for justice looks like,” said Donald Verrilli. “The Center’s work inspires me every day—and never more than now when our nation’s commitment to the rule of law is under such a severe threat.”

Since 1976, the Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR) has been working for equality, justice, and dignity in the criminal legal system. SCHR’s mission is to end capital punishment, mass incarceration, and other practices that are used to control the lives of poor people, people of color, and other marginalized groups in the Southern United States. We do this through death penalty representation, impact litigation, policy advocacy, and public education.

SCHR has won four death penalty cases before the United States Supreme Court, represented thousands of people in class action lawsuits challenging unconstitutional and inhumane criminal justice practices, and worked towards ending the criminalization of poverty.

Members of the press are welcome to attend this event. Please RSVP no later than Monday, October 20 by contacting Kathryn Hamoudah, at 404-688-1202 ext 204 or [email protected].