The recipient of the 2020 Champion of State Criminal Justice Reform Award is Phil Cherner. In his primary practice of criminal defense, Phil tirelessly advocated for the repeal of the death penalty by serving as lead counsel on a death penalty post-conviction case and being a part of several other trial teams. In addition to defending his accused clients, he worked with the families of victims who were opposed to the death penalty by keeping them involved in legislative hearings and offering support throughout the emotional process. He joined the board of Coloradans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (CADP) in 2010 where he helped bring a broad coalition of advocates together to work toward the repeal of the death penalty. Once Phil Cherner retired from the Denver office of Vicente Sederberg, LLC in 2017, he committed most of his time to chairing the board of CADP. In March of this year, Colorado became the 22nd state, in addition to the District of Columbia, to abolish or overturn the death penalty.
Presented at NACDL's 19th Annual State Criminal Justice Network Conference
August 17-19, 2020 | Held Virtually
