Monday, Nov. 11, the Institute of the Bill of Rights Law presented former Congresswoman Liz Cheney with the Citizen Lawyers in Action Award at the College of William and Mary Law School due to her role investigating insurrection on the January 6th committee. Simultaneously, the Law School National Lawyers Guild and the Law School Students for Justice in Palestine hosted a film screening event in opposition to the award ceremony which highlighted Cheney’s controversial stance on torture tactics.
The Institute of the Bill of Rights Law described recipients of the Citizen Lawyer in Action Award as those who exhibit an extraordinary commitment to democracy in an era of heightened polarization. The Law School explained that the inspiration behind this award was striving to not only train lawyers, but to train lawyers who are capable of leading democracy. They call these individuals citizen lawyers.
Alfred Wilson & Mary I.W. Lee Professor of Law and Director of the Institute of the Bill of Rights Law Allison Orr Larsen remarked that while not everyone agrees with Cheney’s policies, she was selected for the award because of her commitment to democracy at the expense of her individual interests.
“A citizen lawyer is a person who uses their law degree to lead in their communities, whether as a profession or as a volunteer or just as a voice of reason in any collective decision-making process,” Larsen wrote in an email to The Flat Hat. “A citizen lawyer today can and should come from all backgrounds and can hold a wide array of political views. What citizen lawyers have in common is that they know members of the legal profession have a special responsibility to buttress our democracy and the rule of law.”
The Law School National Lawyers Guild and the Law School Students for Justice in Palestine disapproved of Cheney winning the Citizen Lawyer in Action Award. Their complaints include Cheney defending the Obama birther conspiracy, serving in the Department of State during the War in Iraq, formerly opposing same-sex marriage and initially supporting the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision.
On Instagram, the two groups posted a statement describing their disappointment with the Institute of Bill of Rights.
“W&M prides itself as the first law school in the country to produce globally-minded citizen lawyers. As law students of conscience, we cannot ignore the blatant hypocrisy of naming Liz Cheney-one of the most forthright war mongerers in modern history-a citizen lawyer. We refuse to dilute the meaning of the citizen lawyer by welcoming a proponent of racist foreign policies, torture tactics, and war-profiteering onto our campus,” the statement reads.
Daniel Ogden J.D. ’26, co-chair of the Law School National Lawyers Guild, explained that chief among these concerns is Cheney’s stance on torture.
“She’s in Tweet fights with Megan McCain about whether or not torture is moral, that’s absurd, and you’re supposed to be a citizen lawyer,” Ogden said. “It’s a war crime according to the United Nations and it doesn’t work. Seeing any human being having their humanity taken away from them because you think they might have done something is entirely gross.”
Mustafa Turaani J.D. ’26, vice president of the Law School Students for Justice in Palestine, explained that the purpose behind the film screening was to illuminate the upsetting reality behind Cheney’s visit to the Law School.
“They had Secret Service and cops all over the school, it was pretty glamorous and students were intrigued by that, but the purpose of what we were doing was to shed a light on who you’re really excited about and what they really represent,” Turaani said. “I wonder as a Brown guy if there’s no room for anybody like me in that kind of space, at the work that she does, with war mongering and the support of torture. It really goes to show how it’s rooted in racism and in gross attitudes about ‘the other’ and we’re better than that.”
Student Assembly President Terra Sloane ’25 did not respond to The Flat Hat’s requests for a comment.
The jointly organized film screening played “The Report,” a film surrounding the investigation of the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques post-9/11. These interrogation techniques included but were not limited to waterboarding, mock burials and sexual humiliation. Liz Cheney defended the Enhanced Interrogation Program, calling the members of the program brave, and arguing that these techniques saved lives. However, the extensive Senate report on the same program found that these techniques produced no intelligence and that agents fabricated information in order to keep the program running.
Derek Meuth J.D. ’26 said that the administration was picking and choosing moments of Cheney’s political career that concurred with their ideals of a citizen lawyer. Instead, he expressed wanting a candidate who continuously fought for the values of democracy.
“Becoming a citizen lawyer isn’t just one action but it’s something you achieve over your lifetime,” Meuth said. “I get that she put her personal gains aside by doing the election committee, but I don’t think that’s really award winning. That’s doing the bare minimum by saying that the election wasn’t stolen.”
Although some students agreed that Cheney’s bravery in leading the January 6th committee was commendable, they still felt that there were better candidates for the award.
Jason Whitted J.D. ’26 spoke on other candidates he thought were a better fit to be a citizen lawyer than Cheney.
“It’s understandable, but at the same time, I feel like there’s a lot more deserving people, especially in Virginia that align more with my view of what a citizen lawyer in action is,” Whitted said. “I look at Elaine Lauria, who was a Congresswoman in the Virginia Beach area, and was also part of the January 6 committee. Her representing Virginia means more to me than Liz Cheney.”
Meuth outlined an alternative view of what a Citizen Lawyer in Action should be moving forward.
“I want to see lawyers in the William and Mary community and those who aren’t in the public eye,” Meuth said. “Those whose work isn’t getting out to law schools or to law journals but who are still pushing to make sure that their community has representation. I think that’s who I’d like to see win this award.”
