Katy Parker Receives Norman Smith Award
Katy Parker received the Norman Smith Award at the ACLU of North Carolina‘s 44th annual Frank Porter Graham Awards Ceremony in Chapel Hill. The Norman Smith Award is presented by the ACLU-NC Board of Directors to someone who has volunteered extraordinary time and effort in service to the ACLU-NC and its Legal Foundation. As noted by the ACLU-NC:
During her six-year tenure as Legal Director of the ACLU of North Carolina, Katy Parker poured her heart and soul into protecting the rights of countless North Carolinians on issues ranging from free speech and religious liberty to racial justice, reproductive rights, and due process under the law. Parker helped to fight for third-party ballot access, to combat state laws restricting reproductive rights, to overturn the state’s unconstitutional anti-profanity law, and much more. She won a landmark case reaffirming that invocations delivered at government meetings must be nonsectarian. Parker built the ACLU-NC’s legal program into a powerful force for liberty and currently serves on its Legal Committee.
Other 2013 honorees include Deborah Weissman (Frank Porter Graham Award), Rev. Dr. William Barber, II (ACLU of North Carolina Award), James E. Ferguson, II (Paul Green Award), and Jen Jones (Sharon Thompson Award).