FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT Justin Silverman | 774.244.2365 | justin@nefac.org
The New England First Amendment Coalition will honor Connecticut resident Daniel Dunn with its 2024 Antonia Orfield Citizenship Award.
The award is given to an individual from New England who has fought for information essential to the public’s understanding of what its government is doing or not doing on its behalf.
Those honored with the award have shown perseverance in the face of difficulty while obtaining information the public has a right to know.
As a member of the Police Oversight Commission in Hamden, Conn., Dunn increased public access to records that documented law enforcement interactions with community members. When Dunn discovered that some of these records were illegally destroyed, he worked to synthesize important information using the remaining records and he successfully appealed a public records case against the town.
Dunn’s efforts increased transparency about policing and raised awareness of the challenges using Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Act. He plans to begin law school at Quinnipiac University this fall and to continue his open government advocacy.
NEFAC will honor Dunn on June 27 during its 14th annual New England First Amendment Awards. During the program, the coalition will also present the Stephen Hamblett First Amendment Award to the late journalist Sarah-Ann Shaw and the Michael Donoghue Freedom of Information Award to the Maine Trust for Local News.
Supporters of NEFAC and the New England First Amendment Awards include Boston University, The Boston Globe, Hearst Connecticut Media Group, Emerson College, Morgan Lewis, Northeastern University, Roger Williams University, University of Connecticut, The Day, University of Rhode Island and WCVB-Boston.
The Citizenship Award is named after Antonia Orfield, an author, mother, optometrist, clinical professor and active citizen. She worked to improve the schools in the communities she lived in, serving on one of the first elected local school councils in Chicago.
Orfield sought to advance her profession and improve the lives of her patients through the use and teaching of therapeutic non-surgical methods of vision therapy. As a researcher, she knew the importance of access to data to analyze, draw conclusions and challenge existing assumptions of screening and treatment protocols.
Previous recipients of the Antonia Orfield Citizenship Award:
Susan Hawes (2023); Tara Gunnigle (2022); Jeanne Kempthorne (2021); Cook v. Raimondo Student Activists (2020); David Saad (2019); Hyde Square Task Force (2018); Donna Green (2017); Michael Champa (2016); Harriet Cady (2015); Kit Savage (2014); David Lang (2013).
NEFAC was formed in 2006 to advance and protect the Five Freedoms of the First Amendment, including the principle of the public’s right to know. We’re a broad-based organization of people who believe in the power of an informed democratic society. Our members include lawyers, journalists, historians, academics and private citizens.
Our coalition is funded through contributions made by those who value the First Amendment and who strive to keep government accountable. Please make a donation here.
NEFAC is supported by the Estate of Gloria Negri. Additional funding is provided by Leadership Circle donors including the Rhode Island Foundation, The Boston Globe, Paul and Ann Sagan, and the Robertson Foundation. Major Supporters of NEFAC’s work are Hearst Connecticut Media Group, Boston University, the Academy of New England Journalists, Connecticut Public, WCVB-Boston and WBUR-Boston.