Marilyn Cover Receives Sandra Day O’Connor Award

Lewis & Clark adjunct law professor and executive director of Oregon’s Classroom Law Project (CLP) Marilyn Cover was awarded the 2018 Sandra Day O’Connor Award for the Advancement of Civics Education. Presented annually by the National Center for State Courts, the award honors those who have been exceptionally engaged in developing the field of civics education relating to the justice system.

In 1979, Cover established a street law program at Lewis & Clark Law School, placing law students in high school classrooms with the goal of breaking down barriers in education and imprinting on young minds the practical principles of law.

Cover convinced Oregon legislators to enact a statute designating the first Friday in December as “Oregon Civics Day for Teachers.” The legislature provides funding for teachers to attend CLP’s hands-on conference to hear from governmental leaders and receive support to help them teach civics to their students.

Former Oregon Chief Justice Thomas Balmer nominated Cover for her leadership, creativity, reach, and determination. “Her impact on students and teachers—as well as judges, legislators, and other elected officials—extends far beyond her home base in Oregon, where she and a handful of lawyers, teachers, and judges started what is now the CLP,” he said in his nomination letter.