Thomas S. Szasz Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Cause of Civil Liberties

The Thomas S. Szasz Award was presented annually to individuals who made outstanding contributions to civil liberties and individual rights, honoring the legacy of Thomas S. Szasz (1920-2012), a renowned psychiatrist and lifelong champion of individual liberty, voluntary interaction, the rule of law, and open society.

Focus Areas:

• Civil liberties and individual rights
• Defense of liberty in psychiatry and psychology
• Classical-liberal values
• Opposition to state coercion
• Work on criminal justice, drug policy, and civil liberties

Award Categories:

• General award for civil liberties
• Professional category (for professionals in relevant fields)
• Lifetime Achievement Award (occasional)

Geographic Scope: Primarily United States, though international recipients were considered

About Thomas S. Szasz:

• Born in Budapest in 1920, died in Syracuse in 2012
• Distinguished professor of psychiatry at State University of New York Health Science Center/Syracuse
• Author of approximately 25 books including The Myth of Mental Illness and The Therapeutic State
• Author of hundreds of scholarly articles
• Defender of individual rights in psychiatry and psychology for over five decades

Notable Past Winners Include:

• Radley Balko (2020) - Washington Post columnist on criminal justice and civil liberties
• Edward Snowden (2020) - Lifetime Achievement Award for whistleblowing on mass surveillance
• Mario J. Rizzo and Glen Whitman (2020) - Economists, professional award
• John Stossel (2015) - Journalist and TV host
• Ed Crane (2013) - Founder and president emeritus of Cato Institute
• Vladimir Bukovsky (2007) - Soviet dissident
• Nat Hentoff (2001) - Renowned columnist and civil liberties advocate
• Phil Zimmermann (1996) - Computer privacy champion, Pretty Good Privacy encryption developer
• Julie Stewart (1995) - Founder of Families Against Mandatory Minimums
• Richard Epstein (1992) - Law professor
• Peter Bauer (1994) - Development economist
• Joan Kennedy Taylor (2005) - Libertarian feminist

Funder: Center for Independent Thought (CIT), a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit educational foundation