2023 Mickey Duncan: Jenner & Block Law Firm

About the Mickey Duncan Award

The ACLU of Utah is proud to present Jenner & Block with the Mickey Duncan Award for 2023. Mickey Duncan, a founder of the ACLU of Utah, was an attorney and state senator who fought injustices against minorities, worked for the separation of church and state, advocated for the abolishment of the death penalty, and proposed legislation making it illegal for public accommodations to refuse to serve people because of their gender, race or religion. His namesake award is given to individuals and law firms who share his commitment to civil liberties and the protection of individual freedoms and work to defend and promote them in Utah.

About Jenner & Block, the 2023 Mickey Duncan Awardee

Jenner & Block receives this award for its tireless and excellent work in representing Southern Utah Drag Stars and Mitski Avalox, who filed a lawsuit challenging the city of St. George’s censorship of drag performances. In this case, the city refused to grant a special event permit to host a family-friendly drag show in April 2023, part of a months-long effort to target drag performances and LGBTQ+ pride events. This denial violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments and the Utah constitution and silenced voices that desperately need to be heard in places like St. George. As part of a team that also included the ACLU of Utah and the ACLU’s national office, the attorneys from Jenner & Block obtained a preliminary injunction ordering the city to permit the drag show. With a permit in hand, the show went on in July 2023. The case continues today.

The Jenner & Block team is led by Jeremy Creelan and Rémi Jaffré, with assistance from Special Counsel Nathan Castellano, Associates Owen Keiter, Meredith Hurley, and Jocelyn Sitton, Law Clerk Sarah Purtill, and Paralegals Cheryl Olson and Grace Liberman.