Philadelphia, PA (December 16, 2003) -- Philadelphia criminal defense lawyer Theodore (Ted) Simon presented a gift of over $25,000 to National Constitution Center President Joseph M. Torsella today on behalf of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. The money was raised from individual NACDL members in a fundraising drive organized by Simon in honor of the new Center and the role of criminal defense lawyers in defending the constitution and individual rights.
The $185 million Center, located at 525 Arch St. across from Independence Hall, was designed by the architectural firms Pei Cobb Freed and Partners (Louvre expansion) and Ralph Appelbaum and Associates (U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum). More than 100 NACDL members who contributed $250 or more will have their names inscribed on the NACDL plaque to be permanently located in the Center.
"The National Constitution Center celebrates the Constitution, and NACDL and its members protect it,” Simon said before the ceremony. “Our members are pleased to share this honor with the Center, and proud to see the names of our colleagues enshrined under the NACDL banner in our nation’s newest landmark."
"This is an unprecedented opportunity for NACDL to become a part of history and to demonstrate to the world that criminal defense lawyers are the ones who do the most to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the rights it affords all individuals," Simon said.
A photograph of the presentation is on NACDL’s Web site, www.nacdl.org, under News & Issues.
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NACDL Communications Department
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal legal system.