On Thursday, September 21st, the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago will celebrate its 15th Bill of Rights in Action Awards Benefit by honoring Scott Turow and the Polk Bros Foundation with the 2006 Bill of Rights in Action award.

The award is given annually to individuals and organizations who, through their professional life and community involvement, provide exemplary models of citizenship for our nation's young people; the Board of the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago (CRFC) believes that the 2006 honorees represent well the spirit of this award.

Scott Turow is an author and partner with the Chicago law firm of Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal LLP. Mr. Turow devotes a substantial part of his law practice to pro bono work, including representation in cases involving the death penalty. One pro bono client, Alejandro Hernandez, co-defendant with Rolando Cruz, was exonerated in 1995 after 11 years in prison for the murder of Jeanine Nicarico.

As a member of the Illinois Governor's Commission on Capital Punishment, Turow had the opportunity to consider the paradox of the death penalty's imposition and sheer "serendipity of circumstances" and concluded "one sees anything but the bright-line proportionate morality the death penalty is intended to symbolize." Mr. Turow frequently speaks on his experiences and makes it clear that he finds no simple answers to the difficult questions surrounding capital punishment in the United States. His personal journey navigating the issue is the subject of Ultimate Punishment: A Lawyer's Reflections on Dealing with the Death Penalty .

Mr. Turow is well known as an author of mystery suspense novels, including his 1987 best-seller, Presumed Innocent that became a major film starring Harrison Ford.

From 1978 to 1986, he was an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago. He also served in 1997 and 1998 on the United States Senate Nominations Commission for the Northern District of Illinois, which recommends appointment of federal judges.

Turow, a Chicago native, is a graduate of Amherst College and Harvard Law School. He lives with his family in suburban Chicago. The Polk Bros Foundation, has since 1988, been living out the charitable giving tradition of the Chicago institution which bears its name. Beginning in the 1930s and for the next 55 years, the Polk Bros chain of retail furniture and appliances stores, and Chicago's first modern retail appliance superstore, was well-known to Chicago neighborhoods.



The Polk Bros Foundation, has since 1988, been living out the charitable giving tradition of the Chicago institution which bears its name. Beginning in the 1930s and for the next 55 years, the Polk Bros chain of retail furniture and appliances stores, and Chicago's first modern retail appliance superstore, was well-known to Chicago neighborhoods.

A reviewer of I Bought It at Polk Bros: The Story of an American Retailing Phenomenon , a history of the retailer written by Ann Paden and published in 1996, wrote "Paden presents a well-written portrait of this likable family, who came to America with strong moral values and work ethics, a family who appreciated the opportunities that America afforded them and who, in turn, gave back to their community".

The Polk Bros Foundation's interest in making Chicago a place where all people have the opportunity to reach their full potential is evident in its consistent support of CRFC's Educating for Democracy program and its work in Chicago public elementary schools where thousands of students have been given authentic opportunities to understand their rights and responsibilities under law and learn to exercise their freedoms wisely. As a participating elementary student once said, "we don't memorize the Constitution, we live it."

Non-profit and non-partisan, the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago has conducted democracy education programs in Chicago, in Illinois, across the country and around the world since 1974.

The annual benefit is an opportunity for individuals and organizations who support the goals of civic education - teaching the fundamental ideas of American democracy, preparing young people to take on the rights and responsibilities of self-government, inviting critical thinking and discussing complex issues - to make a financial contribution to the Constitutional Rights Foundation Chicago. Your financial support assists CRFC in helping students and teachers in grades K-12 discover ways in which the democratic principles that underpin our constitutional heritage can be practiced and understood.

Contributions are accepted at a variety of sponsorship levels. Individual tickets are $75. A special offer ticket is available to teachers who are invited to bring up to two students with them for $50.

For information on the 2006 Benefit, including tickets and ways to contribute, please contact us by calling 312-663-9057 or by e-mailing schaafsma@crfc.org .

CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS FOUNDATION CHICAGO BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Susan G. Gallagher, Chair*
James A. Klenk, Vice Chair
David A. Moes, Treasurer
Victor P. Filippini, Jr., Secretary

Ronald J. Allen Eleanor S. Barnard* Steven L. Bashwiner Kathleen A. Bryan** Renee Citera* Jeffrey D. Colman* Philip H. Corboy* Brian L. Crowe Alex Dimitrief* Steven M. Elrod Michael D. Freeborn* Kenneth R. Gaines* Benjamin Ghess Diane Green-Kelly John J. Jemilo William V. Johnson Bernard M. Judge* Peter Kauffman Crane H. Kenney William J. Linklater Robert T. Markowski* * Benefit Committee Member ** Benefit Committee Co-Chair

Joe P. Mayo The Honorable Frank J. McGarr* Paula J. Morency* Donald L. Mrozek Sonya D. Naar Gordon B. Nash, Jr.* Julian A. Oettinger** James J. Oh Dennis F. Regan John F. Sandner* Gloria Santona The Honorable Stephen A. Schiller R. Ryan Stoll Thomas P. Sullivan Earl A. Talbot Jeffrey R. Tone Georgia L. Vlamis Dan K. Webb* James S. Whitehead David N. Yellen

Last updated: August 23, 2006

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