Judicial Independence Benefit 2021

Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts' Judicial Independence Benefit was held virtually on Wednesday, November 10, 2021, at 5:30 PM.

Click here to watch a recording of the program.

PMC presented the Judge Edmund B. Spaeth, Jr. Award to Robert C. Heim. Bob is one of the co-founders of PMC and chair of our Board. He is also a dedicated advocate of the legal nonprofit community, as well as a former Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association, former President of the National Conference of Bar Presidents, former lecturer in appellate advocacy at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, counsel for judges and the press in many renowned cases, recipient of many awards, retired Captain in the U.S. Naval Reserve, and leader of Dechert’s Trial Department for twenty years.

David McCraw was the event's keynote speaker. David is Deputy General Counsel at The New York Times and a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. He has been the main legal advisor on most of The New York Times' major stories, including those on the #MeToo movement, Donald Trump's taxes, and the Wikileaks and Snowden disclosures. He also serves as the lead litigation attorney for freedom-of-information lawsuits brought by The New York Times, and as a crisis response manager when reporters are detained or kidnapped. David has been involved in international efforts supporting press freedom and access to information. In 2019, he wrote the book "Truth in Our Times: Inside the Fight for Press Freedom in the Age of Alternative Facts".

The Judicial Independence Benefit raises funding for PMC's mission to educate all Pennsylvanians about our courts and how to navigate them with confidence, provide resources to make that possible for all residents of the Commonwealth, and advocate for judicial reforms that promote inclusion and access to justice.