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Remarks by Thomas Szasz

Introduction of Keith Hoeller by Jeff Schaler

Pictures

Pictures from 2001 Awards to Ron Leifer, MD and Nat Hentoff

See more information about the Szasz Award and winners by clicking HERE

The material below is from the Laissez Faire Books site:

Thomas Szasz Award

History shows that individual rights have been incessantly violated and are always threatened by coercive authority. That the price of liberty is eternal vigilance is a truth long evident to friends of freedom. Those exceptional individuals who dedicate themselves to guarding the liberties of their fellow man against the encroachment of the state deserve our recognition and our gratitude.

For nearly five decades, Thomas S. Szasz has distinguished himself as the preeminent defender of individual rights in the fields of psychiatry and psychology. In this effort, he has had to brave both the current of the times and the pressures of a profession oriented toward power. He has remained the steadfast champion of the values of private property and voluntary exchange, the rule of law, and the open society.

Uncompromising in his classical liberal beliefs, Thomas Szasz has been ready--indeed eager--to do battle with massive and entrenched establishments. His struggle on behalf of civil liberties has been indefatigable, sustained over a lifetime of brilliant intellectual accomplishment.

It is only just, therefore, that an effort be made to perpetuate the work of Thomas Szasz, by recognizing and honoring those who follow in his footsteps.

The Thomas S. Szasz Award is a tribute conferred annually on a person or organization, American or foreign, judged to have contributed in an outstanding degree to the cause of civil liberty. The award, which includes a $1,000 prize and plaque, was established to honor Dr. Szasz's career-long battle for civil liberties, property rights, and limits on government power.

Past Recipients of the Szasz Award:

2002: U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, a tireless defender of individual freedom in all spheres during his long tenure in the U.S. House of Representatives. While his emphasis has been on economic freedom, he has also battled on behalf of personal privacy and civil liberties. Since the 9-11 attacks, Paul has insisted that preventing terrorism must not be turned into an excuse for limiting liberty. Keith Hoeller, editor of the Review of Existential Psychology and Psychiatry, for his newspaper columns about the dangers posed to individual liberty by the mental-health laws.

2001: Renowned columnist and author Nat Hentoff for his vocal and unwavering defense of civil liberties, decrying, without partisanship, attempts to abrogate the Constitutional guarantees of free speech, privacy, due process, and equal protection under the law. Dr. Ron Leifer for championing Thomas Szasz's views on mental illness, liberty, and responsibility in his private practice as psychiatrist, in his writing and teaching, and in his psychiatric testimonies.

2000: Law professor George J. Alexander, for more than thirty years, has championed the application of Szasz's views on mental illness to the law, in his numerous publications, his teaching, and his lectures.

1999: Jeffrey Schaler, for his leading role in the development of secular, autonomous self-help groups for people with problems related to drug use. Chip Mellor and Clint Bolick of the Institute for Justice, for their litigation and cutting-edge constitutional work in favor of economic liberty, property rights, and school choice.

1998: Robert D. Kephart for his long-time support for liberty-oriented organizations.

1997: David Kopel and Paul Blackman for No More Wacos. Bettina Bien Graves for lifetime achievement.

1996: Philip Zimmerman for developing Pretty Good Privacy encryption software

1995: James Bovard for "prolific writing about government abuses of individuals in their economic and personal lives." Julie Stewart for her work as founder of Families Against Mandatory Minimums.

1994: Professor Lord Peter T. Bauer for being "an eloquent champion of free markets and th rule of law around the world."

1993: Richard Vatz for promoting the work and ideas of Thomas Szasz.

1992: Richard A. Epstein for Forbidden Grounds and for a "lifetime of intellectual work on behalf of individual liberty and property rights."

1991: Karl Hess for lifetime achievement.

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