Attorney Theresa Chmara named Freedom to Read Foundation Roll of Honor Award recipient

Contact: Judith Krug


312-280-4222

For Immediate Release


June 23, 2003

Attorney Theresa Chmara named Freedom to Read Foundation Roll of Honor Award recipient

Theresa Chmara, general counsel for the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF) and partner with the law firm of Jenner & Block, Washington D.C., is the recipient of the 2003 FTRF Roll of Honor Award.
The award was presented at the 2003 American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Toronto.

Chmara joined the Foundation’s legal team in the early 90s and became FTRF general counsel in 2000.
In that time, she has represented the First Amendment interests of innumerable librarians and library users.
She was a key member of the legal team that helped win the case of
ALA v. Department of Justice, which overturned portions of the Communications Decency Act; and of the team that has guided the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
She is the lead faculty member of the ongoing Lawyers for Libraries training institutes, and serves on the board of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression.

“Theresa’s values lie not just in her encyclopedic knowledge of First Amendment law, but in her ability to explain it to lay audiences and her willingness to do whatever she can to promote intellectual freedom, a core value of librarianship,” said FTRF President Gordon Conable.
“She has given invaluable legal assistance to libraries and librarians facing attempts to ban books, visits from law enforcement, demands to censor the Internet and countless other challenges.”

The FTRF Roll of Honor was established in 1987 to recognize and honor those individuals who have contributed substantially to the FTRF through adherence to its principles and/or substantial monetary support.
FTRF was founded in 1969 to promote and defend the right of individuals to freely express ideas and to access information in libraries and elsewhere.
The Foundation enacts this plan through the disbursement of grants to individuals and groups, primarily for the purpose of aiding them in litigation; and through direct participation in litigation dealing with freedom of speech and press.