Playboy Foundation Recognizes Champions of Free Speech

The Playboy Foundation named the winners of the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards 2006 last Thursday. The annual awards are given to those in the fields of journalism, entertainment, law, book publishing and education who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to protecting our right to free speech.

"A principle guarantee of freedom is the First Amendment," Mr. Hefner said in his speech at the awards ceremony. "Now more than ever, it is important that we honor the men and women who are on the front line protecting that freedom."

This years awards winners include:

• Paisley Dodds who wrote about the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba military detention centers. He sued the U.S. government under the Freedom of Information Act, releasing thousands of documents regarding prisoner abuse.
• Patricia Waterhouse, PhD. and head of Ohio Citizens for Science who organized a coalition to resist religious organizers pushing to teach creationism in schools.
• Geoffrey R. Stone, author of "Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism."
• Shelby Knox, subject of the documentary film "The Education of Shelby Knox". Ms. Knox challenged abstinence only sex education and medical misinformation at her Lubbox, TX high school.
• Marion Lipschutz & Rose Rosenblatt, directors and producers of "The Education of Shelby Knox".
• Rhett Jackson, former president of the American Booksellers Association for his lifetime commitment to fighting for the First Amendment and social Justice.

The Playboy Foundation, established in 1965, has awarded over 15 million dollars in grants to organizations concerned with First Amendment freedoms, civil liberties and social justice.