Judge Michelle T. Friedland, who is on the three-judge panel that will rule on President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at stopping terrorists from traveling to the United States, won the ACLU of Southern California’s LGBT Award in 2009, according to the Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
“She received the President’s Pro Bono Service Award in 2013 from the State Bar of California and the LGBT Award from the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California in 2009,” Leahy said in the U.S. Senate on April 10, 2014, stating his approval of Friedland’s confirmation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
The Los Angeles Times reported on Friedland’s award in an August 1, 2013 story on President Barack Obama nominating her and one of her law partners to serve as judges on the 9th Circuit.
“Friedland won the State Bar of California's 2013 President's Pro Bono Service Award, and the 2009 ACLU of Southern California’s LGBT Award,” reported the Times. “The ACLU honored her for her representation of a gay-rights group in a state challenge of Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage.”
When Obama nominated Friedland to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, the liberal Alliance for Justice posted a background report on her noting her dedication to advancing the cause of same-sex marriage.
“Much of Ms. Friedland’s practice at Munger Tolles has been devoted to representing those working for gay rights,” said the ALJ backgrounder.
“In Strauss v. Horton, she represented several same-sex couples and nonprofit organization Equality California in challenging enforcement of Proposition 8, the amendment to the California Constitution that banned gay marriage,” said the backgrounder.
“Ms. Friedland also represented Equality California in Pickup v. Brown, successfully defending a California law that bans state-licensed mental health professionals from using ‘gay conversion’ therapy (or ‘sexual orientation change efforts’) on minors,” said the backgrounder.
“In 2009,” said the background report, “the ACLU of Southern California awarded Ms. Friedland with the LGBT Award for her work to challenge Proposition 8 in Strauss.”
The ALJ describes itself as “representing a broad array of groups committed to progressive values and the creation of an equitable, just, and free society.”